


Skylines & Turnstiles

by LilahLuck



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-02-18 10:11:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 39
Words: 62,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13097901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilahLuck/pseuds/LilahLuck
Summary: Part 3 of the Mafia Trilogy.Frank is bored....so all out war is about to break out all over the city as organised crime meets chaos.





	1. Chapter 1

It was a cold night, someplace in a back alley a woman was sobbing within distance of a city pavement where the luckier among the populace walked and talked about suburbia. The mix was heady, the good and decent mixed with the desolate and desperate. Drug deals and romantic nights out all working themselves out in within a hundred yards of each other. Bars and clubs with decent patrons and criminals and never the two might meet.  
The dive bar on the corner held more of the latter, the recent election not a topic of conversation here as it had been in the bistro next door for months and yet…well there was one man who had followed it all with considerable interest and a little amusement given how close he had come to being the man in that very oval office. He was still an interesting man, a sensual and attractive man who currently was ignoring the women watching him from doors up on the narrow landing and more interested in what was happening in the next room.  
Gerard leant up against the wall, phone in one hand as he hammered on the door with his other fist. They had trouble brewing out front and he wanted to make sure that the foot soldiers knew that they had back up. The new President was cracking down on organised crime and although Frank Iero and his family were mostly legitimate now, there was no denying that their roots and power still came from the men on the ground. Frank had asked Gerard and Mikey to show face, quietly but violently to make that point and show a rival that one of the country’s richest men might not bother with political power but still ruled this side of the country and was not about to be fucked with.  
“Mikey? C’mon man, this is hardly the right moment for this.”  
“Just…a minute….ahhhhh fuck!”  
Gerard sniggered and rolled his eyes as breathy female cries hit a new height and something that sounded like a head banged the door so hard it rattled. Mikey’s latest paramour was the daughter of another of the Families and he knew that Frank would be more than amused if it got out that the psycho enforcer had taken the virginity of the most pristine girl in his worst enemy’s family. Mikey knew it too but had found that he quite enjoyed random fucking and that meant Gerard had become look out for numerous back room hook ups. If her dad found out then he was probably starting a war and having his equally violent older brother for security made sense.  
There was more shuffling and giggling until the door opened a crack and Mikey’s head appeared. His smile was slightly dreamy and his shirt was buttoned wrong causing Gerard to grab him by the ear and haul him into the corridor. The girl behind him frantically tried to cover up, a shy smile on her face as Mikey turned back for one final kiss and an outright lie .  
“I’ll call you.”  
She nodded before the door closed again and Gerard finally let go of his collar. Mikey straightened himself, the glow from a really good orgasm took a while to fade and his knees still felt a little jelly like as they strode out into the main body of the club. Most of the patrons had backed themselves into corners away from the confrontation in the middle of the room. A dealer for another family had been found outside and was now in the shark pit. His face fell further as he realised who was walking towards him.  
“So, what have we here….”  
The kid was no older than twenty and clearly and addict, running one hand over his face as he stared at the two men. Gerard was soberly dressed, the dark suit and smart tie a little at odds with the long dark hair and eyeliner but his gaze was enough to make anyone shrink back. In contrast Mikey was a tightly wound coil of energy, the lack of sleep recently causing dark shadows under his eyes that set off the current dirty blond hair as well muscled arms flexed.  
“You’re selling Mandini shit on my turf.”  
“I was here to drink, nothing more.”  
The kid’s words were cut off as Mikey lashed out, his fist cleanly breaking his nose and causing a pained howl as he crumpled to the floor. The tall man giggled, motioning to two of his men to pick the sobbing boy up. He didn’t like that someone had taken out his boys, putting them in hospital and cutting into his profits, Frank was trusting him to make the rounds and keep things ticking and this cocksucker was trying to alter that. The other families only understood one message and Mikey intended to deliver it. He leant forward, lifting the man’s chin.  
“Do not lie to me. I really don’t like it when people lie to me.”  
The boy cringed, blood smeared over the remains of his face as more of the Iero foot soldiers dragged in his two friends and emptied their pockets. The three men had been doing good business and there was close to four thousand dollars on them along with foil wrappers and baggies full of another thousand more in merchandise.  
“Gerard. Close it up.”  
“My pleasure. I’ll call in.”  
The barmen had already seen the signal and forced all the patrons towards the door. Most were glad to go, there would be nothing here but death very soon and none of them wanted to know anything that would bring Mikey to their door. That would be the stuff of nightmares. The kid that Mikey had hit was aware now that he would die, his only hope of rescue had been dragged back in and was now standing in front of him looking as sick and pale as he did. Mikey lit a cigarette, passing it to Gerard before lighting a second and staring at the men. A plan was forming in his head and it would be amusing.  
“Now then. Coming to my place and selling your shit is bad enough but you did worse than that didn’t you?”  
The boy opened his mouth and then closed it, glancing at his friends as Mikey waited. Gerard had gone into the back room behind the bar, laying out the tools of his trade. He enjoyed the violence, sometimes enjoyed the killing although it was more a means to an end. He was a rich man, he had a boss that loved him and a family he adored. If he had to spill blood to keep it then that was just fine and indeed Gerard had done so much worse.  
“We didn’t mean to hurt her, we were just high and…”  
His words were cut off again as Mikey’s fist hit his face, only the men holding him kept the boy upright.  
“The whores are mine. MINE. My money and you fucked one up that bad that it will cost me a lot of that money to keep the poor bitch alive let alone get her well enough to fuck again. You cost me money and then you try and take my drug money too?”  
The boy started to gibber, wetting himself as Gerard appeared in black leather gloves. He held pliers in his hand and wore a grim smile. The dealer’s two friends were starting to shake, knowing that it wouldn’t just end with their pal. All of them were staring death in the face and were regretting being so blasé about coming into the territory. They had been told that Frank’s boys were second rate and the man was legit now so that nobody would interfere with them and a big cut of the money would be theirs. It all sounded hollow when faced with the demon brothers that were only a nightmare rumour until half an hour before.  
“Fucking pig. Drop it.”  
The men let go and the boy fell, not attempting to rise as Mikey kicked him hard in the head before leaning down and pulling open his jaws. Screams started to rise as Gerard went to work with a pleasant smile, removing all the front teeth in the boys head with the pliers until a mass of blood, broken teeth and vomit littered the floor. Mikey found it amusing, the kid had passed out half way through and he made sure his boys brought him around so that he was aware when the noose went around his throat.  
“You two, what can we do with you. Was he your little ringleader?”  
Mikey pointed back to the swinging, jerking body that now danced on the rope hung from the ornate rafters of the club. One of the men was crying, the other looked resigned as they both nodded. The tall man smiled, pouring himself a drink as both of them offered their lives and loyalty if only he would let them live. He had heard it all before, men would promise anything to avoid death but it didn’t fit in with what Frank had wanted done.  
Gerard paced, amused at his brother. Mikey was the calmest and quietest kid he knew until the bloodlust kicked in and he loved to watch it. There was no doubt in his mind that Frank had always seen Mikey as his best asset on the ground. Claire could negotiate, they had people could break into anywhere and Frank was the master of plans but nobody did violence like him and Mikey.  
“Take them downtown to their own turf and hang them from the lampposts. You can leave that bitch in front of Mandini’s house.”  
Mikey cleaned his hands as the boys cut down the corpse and bundled the two men away, both of them still screaming for mercy. Let the other families see that incursions would not be tolerated and soon there would be new angles and new plans for his family. Frank was bored with being legit and had increasingly been listening to the Way boys and their plans for expanding back into crime. It amused Claire, Frank’s wife, and he knew that the danger appealed to them all.  
“So you and Mandini’s daughter….”  
“She’s got this tight little…”  
Gerard laughed, clapping his brother on the shoulder as they walked back towards the bar to have a drink. Mikey felt satisfied and was smiling as he answered the phone and Claire’s dulcet tones filtered into his brain.  
“Get up here gorgeous and bring Gee. Council of War just got called.”


	2. Chapter 2

Frank sat at the head of the table, his fingers resting lightly on a can of beer.  
He was deep in thought and oblivious to the trappings of wealth around him. Crime did indeed pay if you were Frank Iero and he had turned a small time mafia family into a heavyweight dynasty that was both legitimate and not but made money from everything. He had been advisor to two presidents, was a CEO of a Corporation supply weaponry to most countries in the world and had more money than he ever would need in ninety lifetimes….plus a hot wife, devoted friends and a private army and yet….  
He was bored.  
Horribly bored and that wasn’t something Frank could stand.   
It had been six months since his friend Ray Toro had been killed at the hands of an old enemy, a loss after the loss of Mikey’s long term lover and his wife’s kidnapping. For a time even Frank had believed that he could be looking at losing everything and ending up in jail, his mind purely bent on a revenge that had been left incomplete. Ray had made sure that his death had not led to that, his successor one of Frank’s men but that had ended in a snap election and now there was a new man in office. The man at the table didn’t care, welcomed the challenge of dodging the law and politics again rather than working for them.  
Looking at him now nobody would recognise the politician from before. Frank had gone back to his roots, band tees and jeans had replaced the suits and ties. His hair was still black, but longer and curling, a half beard making him look older than his natural boyish looks suggested. Claire had even persuaded him to put his piercings back in and Frank was glad of it, he felt like the boy that had clawed his way to power and knew that the boredom came from wanting to do something that spectacular again.  
“Boys are on the road, I think they enjoyed themselves.”  
Claire kissed the top of Frank’s head as he smiled, thanking various gods again for his wife. She was petite and rainbow haired, her goth dress ending in high heeled boots that hit him straight in the groin and made him think this meeting ought to end fairly quickly. They had become so much closer since the chaos before and he relied on her to handle the fine art business and charity duties that had made Frank a reputation for being a philanthropist. He also loved that she accepted and nurtured his need for violence, both sexually and professionally.  
“Mikey is getting better, I think I even saw him smile.”  
“He’s sleeping with anything with a pulse Frank, that’s not getting better.”  
She smiled at his smirk knowing that Frank enjoyed fucking Mikey almost as much as fucking Gerard. She loved all three of them, worried about them endlessly and now knew that although this boredom in Frank was understandable it could get them into a whole lot of trouble. Claire had wondered if it was a form of PTSD, a response to what had happened to her, the loss of James and everything else that had led to losing Ray. She had also thought that instead of making Frank slow down it had made him more reckless.  
“It’ll pass. He just can’t let anyone else but us close to him right now.”  
Claire nodded and slid into his lap, her fingers playing with his hair.  
“So I take it you have a plan to get rid of your boredom that involves a new war.”  
Frank nodded with a half shrug.  
“Sort of. I also think we need to make sure this new guy in office doesn’t decide to aim for us. He got in on an anti corruption ticket after all.”  
There was a silence, the breeze blowing in from the open French doors at the end of the room. Frank still loved this house despite some recent bad memories and had been touched that Mikey had buried James in the little lemon orchard out back. Despite lacking a lot of emotion it had been a sign of a depth of their love that Mikey still needed his boy nearby and still considered the compound to be home. It was their bolthole, several acres and a sumptuous house that spoke of wealth and style yet was still very much a family residence.   
“We can give him others to aim at.”  
Frank chuckled, kissing her fingers.  
“You read my mind as always. Plus have some fun but you know I still want us to go down to the Bahamas for Christmas. Get away for a while.”  
Claire flicked his ear, her British roots still baulked at that kind of heat.  
“You just want me in a bikini and Gee in a thong.”  
He didn’t disagree, kissing her hard and then turning as Gerard opened the door. Frank loved to look at them both, Gerard still a fallen angel of a man, his younger brother more of a pretty little devil with a poker face. He adored them both and trusted them beyond anything and anyone else bar his Claire.  
“Is it done?”  
“Three dead drug dealers and a sweet little message to Mandini.”  
Gerard tactfully left out that his brother had deflowered the man’s daughter, watching as Mikey slid into the nearest chair and reached for the whiskey bottle that was sitting front and centre. He himself took a beer from Frank and the four sat together, grateful for the peace and now ready to discuss their next venture.  
Frank sat back, his hands flat on the table.  
“This new President wants to crush organised crime all along the East Coast. Which includes us, Mandini, Cesaro, Hagan and that Russian crew. Now they don’t know Hagan is just fronting for us so really the targets are narrower and our ground crews are more likely to be hit.”  
Mikey nodded.  
“Feds will be sniffing around for sure.”  
“So we let the others take the heat for us. Arrange a small war between them. If the Feds take them down then we just move right on in and take over.”  
Gerard giggled, shaking his head.  
“Mandini won’t be likely to go for the others if he thinks we aren’t involved.”  
Claire watched the slow smile that crossed Frank’s face.  
“C’mon Gee, we got away with milking every military contract in the country. Surely we can arrange a little turf war.”  
“We can but that’s not what you’re really after is it?”  
Mikey’s poker face didn’t change but he felt his pulse quicken. There was no mistaking the smile that crossed Frank’s face. He had seen it before and it always meant that the boss had hit on one of his master plans. Mikey glanced at Gerard and saw the same hungry look, the immediate rush of desire made him pour them all another drink. Frank surveyed his family, pulling Claire back against him.  
“I am going to destroy every other crime family on this side of the country as a cover while we plan the biggest robbery ever attempted. The Feds won’t even see it coming.”  
Claire shook her head with a rueful grin.  
“Frankie, we already have more money than we know what to do with.”  
“I know, this is for kicks. Plus any instability within the government means countries buy guns.”  
The brothers were clearly now intrigued and Claire watched the almost telepathic glance between them. There had to be another angle and both of them were trying to work it out. A plan within a plan, the idea coming together in Gee’s mind as he shook his head.  
“Kiss my ass. This is about Columbia and that Russian connection you were reading up on.”  
Frank giggled.  
“Ok, you got me. I need about thirty five million dollars to make sure there is regime change in South America that diverts the drug trade to us at the expense of the Russians. Then every drug deal in Europe has to come through us.”  
Mikey laughed, one hand running through his hair.  
“I love the insane idea but the President may have something to say about it.”  
Frank’s face set in the scowl.  
“I’m going to bury him just to show I can.”  
“Fair enough but step one of the plan. How to get the other families to turn on each other.”  
Claire picked up her whiskey with a smile and raised it to the brothers.  
“We are going to need a very good thief and I know just where to find one.”


	3. Chapter 3

Lily tried really, really hard to ignore the insistent knocking on the door.  
She was jetlagged and more importantly, pleasantly used by the man lying next to her. Tom was a boxer, the marks and bruises of both a recent bout and their lovemaking made her want more but there was no doubt that someone was trying to get her attention and now Lily had a decision to make that involved moving and it pissed her off. There had been too much alcohol and coke to face getting up before midday and the clock said it was only eight a.m.  
Lily needed downtime for fucks sake. She had just got back from stealing a diamond necklace from a Swiss banker, a job which required patience and concentration plus a healthy dose of fake papers and luck. It had netted her a cut of nearly half a million which also grated on her. There had been a time when Lily had fallen foul of a gang of particularly nasty Mexican gangsters and was still paying them off and trying to keep one step ahead. Hence working more often than was safe but it was better than disappearing or ending up on the wrong end of a chainsaw.  
Hence the pay off was smaller but her debt was going down and even better, she had Tom in her bed whenever their paths happened to cross. It was the kind of relationship she liked, intense when it happened but not regular enough to be boring. Lily leant over and traced a finger down the muscled bicep, his face still relaxed in sleep even though the hammering on the door had started up again. She scowled, wrapping a sheet around herself and staggering towards the front of the room.  
“What the fuck do you want?”   
There was a pause.  
“Lily?”  
She stopped, a puzzled expression crossing her face before opening the door.  
“Claire?”  
Mikey and Gee didn’t know quite what to think as the door creeped open and a short, somewhat half naked woman peered out. Claire giggled, clearly the PI had been right and Lily had been celebrating the audacious robbery that she had showed to her husband. Few people could do what Lily could and Frank had immediately recognised an asset they could use. That his wife had been having her former roommate followed amused him also.  
“It’s so good to see you.”  
Claire swept her friend into an embrace. They hadn’t seen each other in fifteen years, had still been in their teens when Claire left for the States but had managed the odd postcard to each other over the years. Hence Lily knew her friend had married a wealthy businessman rumoured to be a mobster and Claire knew that Lily was the best thief most people would ever meet. Lily herself was now looking the two men with her up and down.  
“Great to see you too, who’s this?”  
Claire turned, a smirk on her face.”  
“Lily, this is Gerard and Mikey Way. They are business associates of myself and my husband.”  
“Business associates?”  
Claire giggled, the suspicion on Lily’s face made her look quite adorable.  
“I know, they’re cute but can we discuss this inside?”  
Lily thought that neither man looked like any form of business other than trouble although both were very good looking, the taller one now poker faced as the dark haired man flashed her a smile. She pulled the sheet a little closer and winced before managing a grin and ushering them all back into the cool shrouded interior and out of the Nevada sun.  
“Its great to see you, really is but why now Claire?”  
“I have a business proposition for you.”  
Lily flicked the kettle on before turning back, a smile now crossing her face.  
“I’m guessing that your husband IS a mobster and you want something stolen.”  
Gerard giggled, he was a little turned on by the tattooed skin that ran down the girl’s arms and could see Mikey was thinking it too. The prospect of having a thief under his roof had bothered Gerard a little despite Claire telling them that Lily was nothing short of a whirlwind of a good time. He had agreed with Frank’s plan but was intending to be watchful although it was Mikey who answered her.  
“Frank is many things but yeah, we do need something stolen and your help to do it.”  
Lily looked him up and down, the quiet voice not what she had expected and a little intrigued by what these guys were about. Working for mafia families tended to go bad in her experience although the idea of hanging out with Claire was very attractive and her practised eye could see that her friend was wearing diamonds worth at least half a million so there was clearly money to be made. One small problem meant that it was not currently an option.  
“Sadly I have problems of my own and can’t get free of them for another few months yet.”  
Claire cradled her mug and nodded to Gerard who held up his phone.  
“I just paid off your Mexican friends. They won’t be bothering you anymore.”  
Now Lily did stop and turn to look at him.  
“You gotta be kidding me.”  
“Check your inbox, I asked them to confirm it to you.”  
Lily bolted for the bedroom leaving the three newcomers to make more coffee and check in with Frank. The debt had been small fry and he was prepared to pay it off in order to get Claire what she wanted and that was Lily onboard. Claire herself was more interested in the map that lay spread out on the kitchen table. Several cities and banks were ringed along with some high profile business, clearly her friend had plans.  
“So I guess I work for you now.”  
Lily came back now dressed in jeans and tee. There was no doubt the Mexicans were now ancient history although she was wary about being in debt still just to a different group of people. Claire swept her into a hug and then stopped, a tall and near naked man was now staring at them from the doorway. He was all muscle, clearly a prize fighter and clearly not very happy at being woken by visitors who had mysteriously paid of all his girlfriends debts.  
“And this is?”  
“Tom, this is my friend Claire and her….business associates.”  
Tom nodded slowly, he knew killers when he was looking at them and wondered what the fuck Lily had done to get herself in trouble this time. He remembered her mentioning an old school friend of that name but nothing more. Gerard just liked looking at the big man before painting a smile on his face.  
“Gerard Way, this is my brother Mikey.”  
Tom shook the offered hand and then grabbed Lily by the ear and dragged her back into the bedroom. He closed the door and turned, shaking her hard. Lily was unnerved by the reaction, Tom was never anything but a gentleman usually but he could see the annoyance on his face and now considered her options.  
“Gerard and Mikey Way are numbers two and three in the Iero crime family. Are you fucking insane?”  
Lily shrugged, her face paling.  
“I knew Claire was married to a fishy guy but they paid the damn Mexicans just to persuade me to go talk about a job.”  
“You could end up dead. Most people that go into business with them do.”  
Lily sat down, looking up at him carefully.  
“I could end up rich too.”  
Tom shook his head.  
“I can’t come with you on this but you know how to contact me if it goes bad right?”  
She giggled, his concern was always appealing.  
“I know and you know I’ll be careful.”  
Tom pulled her up and into his arms, kissing the top of her head.  
“No. You won’t be and that’s what scares me.”


	4. Chapter 4

Frank didn’t pause, a smile the only indication that he knew Gerard had come into the space behind him. He shot off another three rounds hitting the target dead centre with each one and filling the underground room with noise. Like most of his business he kept the less legal side hidden from view and had an entire complex built under his house that could easily survive anything from a pandemic to a nuclear war.  
When he wanted to think Frank liked to come and test out the weapons that flowed in from his legitimate arms business. He had tested them all, liked to know that his name went only on the best and made sure that his men on the street would never be lacking in firepower. Hence the walls behind him were lined with personal favourites of his, Gerard’s and Mikey’s plus the latest in what his Chinese arms factories had to offer. It both reminded him of where he came from and where he intended to go, right now Frank intended to start a war.  
“Gee, tell me what you think of our latest ally.”  
Gerard leant back against the wall admiring Frank’s ass and considering the question.  
“Wary which is a good thing. I don’t trust anyone who’s too trusting. Seems happy to stay here in the bunker while we prepare which demonstrates common sense although whether she will be happy to help us when we tell her to steal from the feds is another thing.”  
Frank put the gun down and turned back.  
“We can leave that for later, first thing is to get Mandini and Cesaro at each other’s throats. Come here….”  
Gerard dropped his eyes, knowing the mood that clearly his lover was in and crossed to him quickly. Frank didn’t need to say a word, balling his fist into Gerard’s hair and pulling him into a rough kiss. One hand latched around his throat and squeezed eliciting the merest whimper of pain that made Frank growl.  
“Where did you send them now?”  
Gerard panted, trying to ignore the glow in his crotch all the time Frank wanted to talk business.  
“Claire and Mikey took Lily on a scouting mission to the other territories.”  
Frank grinned, forcing Gerard down to his knees.  
“Tell your brother not to mix business with pleasure.”  
“She has a huge boxer boyfriend.”  
Gerard smirked, unzipping Frank’s fly as his lover considered the information.  
“He’ll just see that as a challenge.”  
Frank’s head tipped back with a sigh as expert hands stroked and teased him. He had never managed to resist Gerard when he was in full submissive mode and couldn’t now, watching with considerable pleasure as he easily took Frank’s cock deep into his throat and softly hummed. The eye contact was not broken, Gerard loving the animal enjoyment on Frank’s face as his hair was pulled again and he gagged.  
Frank held him there a moment longer until small tears formed in Gerard’s eyes and then let go, the eager inrush of oxygen now making him pull away before greedily sucking Frank again, the never stopping feeling of lips and tongue now teasing a moan from the shorter man. He wasn’t sure whether time had stopped or he was just pausing it, virtually impaling Gee on his cock with every movement of his hips. Gerard was moaning now too, the feeling of being used was making him impossibly hard and he hoped Frank would let him cum too but knew better than to even make a move to suggest it.  
Gerard gagged once more before Frank pulled him up, slamming a kiss against his lips before the familiar smirk crossed his features. Gee was still wide eyed and breathless, the knowledge of what was coming next making him shift a little as Frank held him there a moment longer, enjoying just looking at the beautiful man that he adored.  
“You know what I want and if you make it quick I may let you cum…”  
Gerard dropped his eyes again, knowing the effect it had, quickly turning to drop his jeans and hang on to the counter. Frank slammed his hand against the pale skin of Gee’s ass and picked up the gun again, toying with the conflicting desires in his mind. He wanted to fuck his boy and then fuck up the world a little. It had all become too safe, too predictable and he wanted to make people know fear again. A little like Gee did now seeing as there was no lube down here and Frank was sure to make it hurt.  
There was indeed the merest gasp of pain, adding to Frank’s pleasure as he forced another finger into Gee’s ass, making sure to prepare his boy well before taking what he really wanted. He knew Gee was breathing around the pain, grinding his hips against his lover’s ass until the moans of pleasure began in earnest. Frank pressed the gun up against Gee’s head, hearing the giggle as he thrust harder, his voice strained.  
“You get to cum, you know you like it when we play a little Russian roulette.”  
Gee didn’t turn down the offer and stroked himself, his pulse seeming to pound as the hammer clicked against an empty chamber. He had no idea if there were bullets left in the gun but somehow doubted it, Frank had if anything become even more protective since their last brush with disaster. Gerard had no doubt that if Frank knew the full extent of his involvement then he really would follow through on this symbolic act.  
He banished the thought from his mind, allowing the heat and glowing excitement in his body grow until he was screaming, begging Frank to please let him cum, to let Frank cum before the exquisite feeling stopped his heart. Frank growled his refusal, the weapon discarded again as he gripped Gee’s hips and pounded them both towards the precipice. He needed Gee to cum, insisted on the throbbing pulsing tightening around his cock before he could release and feel his energy bursting from him in great racing bursts.  
Frank had to pause, his head resting against Gee’s back as both of them came down a little before they could part and slump down on the floor. It never ceased to amaze Frank that the desire between them never faltered no matter how much he enjoyed Mikey and loved his wife. He was just grateful that he could have all of it and never consider having to lose any of them. He would kill anyone who tried and his mind started to drift until Gee pressed a kiss against his sweat soaked hair.  
“C’mon, we should go see if they’re back yet and you need to meet Lily.”  
Frank smiled lazily, seeing the flush in Gee’s face and loving it.  
“Sure but I need a shower first. Is she cute?”  
“In a punky kind of way yeah.”  
“I told you and you need to tell Mikey, no fucking the help.”  
Gerard laughed, hauling Frank to his feet and retrieving his jeans.  
“Since when do we do anything but fuck?”  
Frank put an arm around his shoulder.  
“Since we decided to make war on the rest of the world. Fuck after in the ruins.”  
“You say the most romantic things.”


	5. Chapter 5

Lily considered things, her eyes fixed on the glass in front of her.  
Claire could see that her friend was interested in the proposal and seemed not in the least bit in awe of her surroundings. Frank’s office was comfortable but somewhat intimidating to most people and yet Lily hadn’t batted an eyelid. She had listened intently as Frank outlined the first stage of the plan which involved scoping out the rival families and stealing anything useful in the way of paperwork or computer files and then using that to start a turf war. Frank had liked that she didn’t seem scared of him or the Way boys as most people did but didn’t like that he couldn’t seem to get a handle on Lily just yet.  
“You have a hundred people could do this for you so what’s this really about?”  
Mikey smirked, he liked the girl and knew that Claire was just itching to help out in the field more. What had happened to them had left it mark on all of them in different ways and he knew that it had made Claire harder, more inclined to be a player in the game rather than an onlooker. He knew Frank had come to like it and it seemed to be fuelling the bosses’ desire for chaos.  
“This is phase one of a bigger plan. You do this, we talk more.”  
Lily shrugged.  
“No.”  
Frank raised an eyebrow, a hint of steel in his voice.  
“No?”  
“Be honest with me. I’m grateful for you paying my debt and I owe you but agreeing to doing jobs without knowing the full story was how I got in that mess in the first place.”  
Lily kept her gaze level. She had found Frank Iero to be something different to what she had imagined, younger and certainly handsome with what she could see was a frighteningly sharp brain. There was something in the back of her head that screamed that this job would be trouble and she was curious despite herself. That and the idea of screwing at least one of the Way boys was stopping her from legging it and trying to persuade Claire to go along too.  
“I can’t just yet for your own safety and ours.”  
Gerard could see that Frank was amused and tried not to smile, winking at Claire.  
“This first part of the job is easy, you can walk away after if you want.”  
Frank glanced at his wife, not sure about the latter part of the statement but seeing that Lily would probably be persuaded more by Claire than himself. He could see Mikey was staring at the girl’s cleavage and elbowed him causing Gee to giggle and turn it into a cough. Lily had seen it to and smirked at all three of them, melting the ice a little as Frank got up to go find them all a drink. Claire could see Lily was wavering and grabbed her hand.  
“You can hack computers?”  
Lily nodded, there were a fair few skills in other areas she intended to keep under wrap.  
“Being a thief these days means you have to be able to steal information as well as things…although the thrill of the physical is much more fun.”  
She locked eyes with Mikey and saw the briefest grin that crossed his features.  
Frank placed glasses of whiskey on the table.  
“You saw the locations, is it workable?”  
“Very much so. A lot of security but I can bypass that fairly easily.”  
Gerard drained his whiskey and glanced over at Frank.  
“And the other part?”  
Lily leant back in her chair, considering it.  
“Planting information is harder, you don’t want to make it too obvious but it can be done. Easier if you can do that side of it when the two sides are in close proximity.”  
Claire held her breath as the three men frowned.  
“Proximity?”  
Lily grinned, Claire giving her husband a triumphant look.  
“If you can make both sides think they have found the information themselves while the other is in the same room say….does that ever happen?”  
Frank could feel that the girl was onboard and was now more than intrigued but it was Gerard who answered, the first sign of his instability flashing in his eyes.  
“Sure, there are several political functions that the families use to jockey positions. We could use this Frankie, if we are there too it will seem less suspicious.”  
“When’s the next fundraiser?”  
Gerard located his phone, he kept tabs on all of the activity even though the family had withdrawn from politics for the time being. Mikey continued to watch Lily, he wanted to know more and was kinda drawn to the flirting despite himself. Very few people wanted to play the games Mikey did bar from his family and now he allowed himself to think of borrowing the two women for the night.  
“Seventeenth of next month. Doesn’t give us long.”  
Lily glanced at Frank with a smile.  
“I can work with that but after this is done I walk unless I get the truth.”  
Frank nodded extending his hand which Lily shook.  
“Deal. Now you girls go enjoy yourself, me and the boys got a COD game to play.”  
Claire giggled, there was nothing more amusing than watching three grown men pout at losing at computer games but it had been a long time since she and Lily had been able to catch up. Lily followed her with a smile as Claire led the way to the huge kitchen and got out more booze and a huge selection of chocolate and cake.  
“Girls night then.”  
“Thank god, although we will hear them yelling at each other within five minutes.”  
There was a nook at the far end of the room with comfy deep sofas that looked out over the pool and gardens below. Lily had never been surrounded by such wealth and it took her a moment of just staring before she turned back to her friend with a smile.  
“Your husband doesn’t look like a gangster.”  
Claire poured them both margaritas and smiled.  
“He used to, when he was running the political side and Ray was in office.”  
Lily gaped.  
“So it was true, he was Frank’s guy?”  
“He was, it ended badly though as you probably know.”  
Lily nodded, somewhat stunned to know that Frank’s power had extended so far.  
“Yeah, shame he got ill. I voted for him.”  
Claire’s face fell, it still seemed surreal to think of what had happened.  
“He was murdered. Someone from Frank’s past. I was kidnapped, Mikey lost the man he loved…it was a bad time and now Frank is glad to be out of politics.”  
Lily immediately leaned over and hugged her.  
“So Mikey is gay?”  
Claire laughed and returned the hug, needling her friend.  
“He’s very bisexual and no, don’t go there.”  
“Well I can’t say I’m not tempted. What about the other one?”  
Claire glanced at the door and poured yet another drink.  
“Gerard? Submissive as fuck and huge in all areas.”  
Lily’s eyes widened and Claire couldn’t resist it, leaning in.  
“Me and Frank share them both all the time.”  
“Damn woman! No wonder you don’t want me going after lanky.”  
There was an explosion of shouting from the next room which caused both of them to collapse in giggles. By the time the margarita jug was empty they had shared all their secrets, Lily telling Claire about Tom and the various other men she had known, even letting slip that this job for Frank was not the first time she had worked for mobsters. Claire had admitted to killing a man during the whole kidnapping incident, Lily had admitted to doing the same in Mexico and had divulged some of the secrets of the bed swapping that seemed to have become almost natural.  
“Will you really leave after this job?”  
“Not if he levels with me. I’m not dying for anybody.”  
Claire nodded thoughtfully.  
“It won’t come to that. The boys are actually overprotective.”  
Lily put down her glass.  
“So what is it about?”  
“A bigger job is all I know. At least with this fundraiser idea we can all be there.”  
The two women stared out at the view. Lily had a feeling Claire knew exactly what the plan was and Claire had realised that her old friend had grown into either a potential ally or a well armed enemy. She knew that Frank would have to handle this carefully and wondered if Mikey might provide the way to do it. Lily had started considering both escape plans and a way to get a handle on some serious money.  
The sun set on an interesting day….


	6. Chapter 6

“You know what to do?”  
“Yes.”  
“The rendezvous point and the emergency number?”  
“Yes.”  
Lily smirked, wondering if the poker face ever changed as Mikey leant against the car. They had agreed that Lily would do the jobs alone, it was safer that none of the Iero family were seen anywhere near either of the rival gang’s properties and she was not on anybody’s radar. Frank had arranged for Claire and himself to be seen at an art gallery opening and both Mikey and Gerard had business on the other side of town, all of it public before they would all meet again later once the job was done.  
That wasn’t to say that Mikey wasn’t thorough and Claire had been amused, the man could never quite let go of control and was finding it frustrating that Lily was more than content to work with an element of chaos. They had been bickering for over an hour, Gerard amazed that anyone was quite so prepared to argue with his brother and that his brother was letting it happen. It reminded Claire of how James had been the only one to manage it before, a thought that made her shiver.  
“Stop panicking. This is not my first rodeo and I have scouted both places. You and Frank saw all the security features yourselves and I showed you how I can get round them.”  
Mikey pouted.  
“Neither Mandini or Cesaro will leave the places unguarded.”  
Lily merely grinned and then reached into her pocket, tossing him his wallet.  
“I can handle it.”  
Claire couldn’t help it, breaking into giggles at the look on Mikey’s face as Lily hightailed it down the steps before either of the brothers could say anything, disappearing into the night. Gerard shook his head and straightened his tie, the less sane part of his brain hoping that Mikey would take his frustrations violently out on some poor bastard and then on him later on. They trooped back up the stairs, finding Frank in the kitchen watching the news.  
“Is it on?”  
Mikey growled and walked through the kitchen on his way to find both some weapons and some self control. Frank merely raised an eyebrow as Claire explained and then turned back to his plan. He had been watching the update with some interest, the economy was not going how the new leader wanted but the money markets were favourable to Frank and he considered how he could use that fact, chewing on his lip ring as Claire went to change and Gee went to his office. It wasn’t until twenty minutes later that Mikey reappeared.  
“I’m going after her.”  
Frank looked up.  
“Stick to the plan, if you go anywhere near the other two families it will blow the cover.”  
“I don’t trust her.”  
Frank sipped his coffee, pouring his friend one too.  
“I know, you want to fuck her though.”  
Mikey’s expression didn’t change, he merely shrugged.  
“Fuck that attitude out of the bitch yeah.”  
“Like I said, stick to the plan. Go take a look at the guns for me with Gee.”  
Mikey smiled, Frank struck again by just how pretty the man was.”  
“Got some decent firepower there Frankie, Chinese did us proud.”  
The Don grinned, he too had been impressed just by the specs and now he looked forward to hearing his favourite killers verdict. Gerard reappeared in jeans and band tee, his hair a mess and eyeliner making him look pale and unearthly. Both men regarded him with something approaching predation as Gee picked up his keys and motioned to his baby brother.  
“C’mon, lets go do this.”  
Frank watched them go and put the cups in the sink before walking up the stairs to the master bedroom. It was time to put on the public face and he paused at the door to watch his wife who now wore a strapless black dress, diamonds at her neck and wrists matched those glittering in her ears. Claire looked like the perfect society hostess and Frank had to remind himself that she was perfectly capable of killing a man same as he was.  
Tonight however it was relaxing just to socialise and be seen, the practised act meaning neither of them really had to think about it. Claire considered most of the people around her to be sheep, turned on by the fact that Frank could charm them, flatter them and then make sure some of them would be ruined if they were to cross him. She herself enjoyed the amazed glances as her art degree came to the fore and she discussed the old masters with some of the art critics and wealthy patrons. Once again they all underestimated her man and her, it would be more than fascinating to make them pay for it.  
“You look stunning.”  
Frank whispered in Claire’s ear, handing her another glass of champagne as the clock ticked towards eleven. His hand rested around her waist with the hint of domination that she liked, his face close to the pressure point on her neck. She could never get over her desire for him and he knew it, placing the lightest of kisses against the sweet spot and feeling her shiver.  
“So lets go home and screw.”  
Claire loved the smirk that lit his face.  
“Of course my love but your friend just sent me a text. She has some interesting information and has gone to meet the boys at the warehouse.”  
She nodded slightly and took his arm, smiling as they bid goodnight to the great and good before heading out and down to Frank’s Mustang. They drove with her hand in his lap, punk blasting from the stereo and the roof down to take advantage of the night air. There was an air of excitement and Claire was relieved that Frank’s boredom was starting to lift and now wanted him badly, her fingers teasing him and making his breath catch as they pulled into the darkened parking lot of what looked like an abandoned factory. Frank flicked off the lights and pulled the car into the far end of the building it, parking next to Gee’s Trans-Am and spotting the rental that Lily had used.  
Claire slipped the dress from her shoulders, kissing Frank deeply before quickly changing into jeans and jumper, the air in the warehouse below would be freezing and the expensive part dress just would not do. Frank took her hand and they quickly made their way down to the lower levels. Mikey was standing before some open crates examining a range of rifles and scopes as Gerard and Lily were taking practise shots at the other end. Gerard held the girl lightly, liking that she let him and that she seemed a decent shot.  
“How’s the merch?”  
Mikey tossed Frank one of the handguns.  
“As good as we thought. Hey Gee, get that ass over here.”  
Gee turned, the smile purely for his brother as Lily waved at Claire, all of the heading to where a table and some chairs had been set up. Lily’s laptop and mobile rested there, the sum of a decent night’s work and she was still on an adrenaline high, the familiar rush at a successful raid never seemed to fade and she knew that this stuff would please her new boss.  
“These guys are going to make it easy for us.”  
Lily plugged in a memory stick, the screen flashing up with a scrolling list of figures.  
“Mandini has a plant in Cesaro’s operation and yours. They have been feeding him information on your drug and prostitution operations, hence why he feels confident enough to take you on.”  
There was a stunned pause before Frank’s eyes flashed with murderous rage.  
“Who? Do you know?”  
Lily shook her head.   
“Just a code word. The plant in your family is known as Romeo.”  
Mikey loaded up the pistol in his hand, his face thoughtful.  
“We can deal with that. We need to drop the hint to Cesaro.”  
Frank nodded, pacing.   
“If we can do that in a way that lets him know we’re compromised to it may bring Cesaro to us asking for help. Can’t hurt. What did you find on them?”  
Lily removed the USB, replacing it with a second.  
“Nothing as compromising but one of their guys is banging Mandini’s daughter.”  
Gerard choked down a giggle earning a glare from Mikey.  
“Well that will send Mandini off at least.”  
Claire smirked, looking over at Lily and seeing the amusement there.  
“Anything else?”  
Lily opened her phone and brought up a picture.  
“Well there is this….at Mandini’s place.”  
The other three people in the factory stared at the picture with something approaching amazement. That the enemy would be that reckless, that he would give them the opportunity of a lifetime to accelerate Frank’s plan seemed too good to be true. Frank crossed his arms with a giggle.  
“Now the feds are so going to want THAT.”


	7. Chapter 7

The city was ablaze with lights.  
It was a night that would see the great and good come out to the massive hotel on the strip, cameras and paparazzi fighting to get the best pictures as wealth paraded up and down the red carpet to be gawped at by the less fortunate and glared at by the jealous. It was a benefit ball, thousands of dollars would be donated to various charities by rich men trying to outdo each other. That some of the money would be dirty didn’t bother any of them, the politicians happy to rub shoulders with criminals as long as the right deals could be made.  
Frank both hated and loved it, getting out of the limo with a practised smile..  
He loved it because dressing in a tux with his amazing wife in black beside him was guaranteed to get his name in the papers along with the hefty donations that all added to the show of being legitimate. Gerard was on his other side, immaculate and beautiful, accompanied by some coked out starlet who had been sucking his dick half an hour before and would likely do so again if he asked.   
Mikey was a little more business like although he too looked amazing, the blond hair slicked back and his glasses replacing his contacts for the evening. Lily was on his arm, dressed in a spectacular red dress and some of Claire’s rubies. He tried not to stare down her cleavage although the height difference made it difficult and reminded himself that he was merely keeping tabs on the bitch until she could plant the evidence and kick off the fun. Mikey refused to smile for the cameras and hoped it wouldn’t end up in the gossip columns. One of the more risqué publications had been speculating about his love life until the editor found himself on the receiving end of an iron bar to the genitals, they had all learned not to look too closely at the beautiful man after that.  
Frank hated it all because he hated most of the people that milled around him. He had good business relations with some, some hated him as much as he hated them. Some paid him blackmail money and sent him kickbacks and contracts. It was predictable and sometimes Frank just wanted to give his boys guns and take them all down. That plan all the more fun now that he knew that his enemy was sitting on a very expensive and very stolen piece of art. He shook hands with some smug politician, resisting the urge to wipe his hand on his trousers before Claire leaned over, kissing him and noticing his pout.  
“No you can’t kill them all. Let’s get a drink and then we can mingle.”  
“Fuck, don’t make me mingle.”  
Claire giggled, her hand grasping his as they crossed the room nodding to various acquaintances before reaching the bar. Frank was grateful for the whiskey, his eyes on where Gerard was charming the Governor and Senators who remembered him well from his days as a politician. It pained Frank still to remember that Ray and James were not here, his eyes almost searching for them both as he watched Mikey and Lily go into the next room.   
“What now?”  
Lily passed Mikey a glass of champagne, her eyes meeting his.  
“Show me the targets.”  
Mikey nodded, his arm still around her waist.  
“The tall man over there, white hair and glasses. That’s Mandini’s number two guy. We passed the number two to Cesaro as we walked through. The very fat guy talking to my brother.”  
Lily leant against him a little more, conscious of the hold he had on her and the heat of his body. She tried not to think about it, clearly getting involved with Mikey would be a massive mistake but there was something about the annoying bastard…she took another sip of champagne.   
“He will be easier then.”  
Mikey half smiled, raising her hand to his lips.  
“Go to it.”  
Lily giggled and walked back over to the edge of the room. She had begun her career as pickpocket and it was as second nature as breathing. The small USB had been copied showing that Cesaro’s operation was compromised as had Frank’s and now she merely ghosted against the enormous man and transferred it into his pocket as she made her way over to Gerard. The starlet pouted, not liking how Gerard immediately kissed the dark haired girl and introduced her to the various men. Cardon, the man who now had the evidence, was entranced by the polite British girl and they chatted for several minutes until Lily excused herself.  
“One down.”  
Mikey nodded, his face searching hers as she reached him.  
“You hate this don’t you Mikey?”  
He nodded, not bothering to hide his contempt.  
“It’s Frank and Gerard’s world, not mine. Give me a gun and a clean target anyday.”  
“They do seem so….two faced.”  
He giggled, pulling her back into his arms. They needed to keep the act up of being an item and public displays of affection tended to stop people from interrupting. Lily leant her head against his chest, her fingers idly playing with the buttons on his shirt. Mikey drained his glass and tried to ignore the desire rising in him as his eyes searched for the second target.  
“Well look at that.”  
He turned so Lily could see that the tall man was now making his way into the other room where they had entered. Mikey followed, his hand now in Lily’s to where the crowd was considerably thicker. Claire was talking to the Senator’s wife, her husband nowhere in sight as Mikey scanned for Gerard. He didn’t enjoy his brother being too far from him, something he knew went back to losing James and there was a mild panic and anger growing until Gerard came through a door on the other side. Mikey added that to the list of things he would punish the bitch for later before realising that Lily was on the move again.  
“How does she do that?”  
Frank appeared at Mikey’s shoulder and they watched as again, she merely brushed against the tall man and transferred another USB containing the compromising pictures of his bosses daughter into his pocket. The transaction was completed in seconds and Lily had moved on, circling the room before stopping between the two men. Mikey pulled her against him again as Frank removed two more glasses and handed them to his friends before grabbing another.  
“Phase one done. You’re very slick.”  
Lily giggled, liking Frank’s smile and feeling the champagne going to her head.  
“That stuff is easy. What happens now.”  
“Within a couple of days we get a reaction. Once we know how strong that reaction is we can move to phase two.”  
Frank smirked at Mikey, he knew how much the kid hated these events and could see that he was itching to leave now that the switches had been done. Gerard seemed to be enjoying himself, chatting easily with people as Claire continued to charm everyone around her. Frank knew they would have to stay for a few more hours until the speeches had been done and the self congratulation had gone on some more.  
“Mikes, you can go if you want. I know this is your idea of hell.”  
Mikey shrugged, unable to deny it.  
“I need to check on the captains. See you back at the house later.”  
Lily was ready to say good night to him but didn’t get the chance, Mikey retaining a firm grip on her hand as he pulled her towards the door. They didn’t speak as the valets helped Lily into the borrowed luxury of a fur coat and Mikey grabbed his jacket. Only when they were outside and heading down to his car did her temper flare.  
“And I have to come with you why?”  
Mikey turned, his smile now somewhat smug.  
“Can’t leave you in there without a date, what kind of man do you think I am?”  
“A violent one.”  
Mikey opened the door for her and slammed it shut before walking around the other side.  
“You’re not wrong.”  
Lily settled back, his Jaguar was vintage and the leather bound seats made it comfortable. The engine purred as he pulled out of the driveway and into traffic. She contented herself with looking at him as he drove.  
“How did you end up as Frank’s captain?”  
Mikey tried not to look at her.  
“We knew each other as kids and met the wrong people at the right time.”  
“You could have been something else then.”  
Lily liked the smile that cracked his features.  
“I’m a very violent man, I would have ended up dead or in jail without this outlet. How did you end up a thief? Claire said you were regular kids.”  
“I was but I was poor and ambitious. Same as you.”  
He didn’t answer, the short drive back to the compound seemed to take no time at all and he wanted to get away from her before he did something both of them might regret. Mikey knew his desires sexually were about as abnormal as his love for violence and yet there was something in him that wanted her. He decided getting away and finding some poor bastard to take his anger out on was probably a better option.  
“You’ll be safe here, I gotta go into town.”  
Lily half turned, a hint of thigh now showing as he tried not to look.  
“You could come and have a drink with me.”  
“I gotta work, you heard Frank.”  
“I’m sure he’d let you off.”  
Mikey snarled, one hand grabbing Lily by the throat as he shook her.  
“Let’s get this straight. You and me would be a really bad idea.”  
She didn’t look scared, merely watching him before speaking quietly.  
“It would be a bad idea but you want it.”  
“No.”  
Mikey let go and got out the car, again walking around to help her out. Lily tried not to react as he slammed the door and pushed her towards the house. This side of him interested her even more, although Claire and a quick chat to various employees confirmed that Mikey was indeed a violent psychopath. That didn’t particularly fuss Lily, it would just make it all the more dangerous and that appealed to her chaotic side.   
“Not even a kiss goodnight?”  
Lily grinned at his pokerfaced gaze and let herself into the house, the screeching tyres confirming that she had got under his skin. Mikey was a card she intended to have in the deck by the time whatever this phase two got going. There was another part to the failsafe before she got involved too deep in this and now she retrieved her phone and dialled a number.  
“Hey you, fancy a drink?”


	8. Chapter 8

“This was such a good idea of yours.”  
“Well if Mikey wasn’t gonna show me a good time….”  
Claire giggled and sipped her drink, watching as Lily leant up to tuck another twenty dollar bill into the strippers g-string. Frank had disappeared with Gee at the ball to discuss business and Claire couldn’t stand it, glad when Lily called and suggested going into town. Her husband had again warned her to be careful but had known better than to try and say no to her. He had learnt the year before that she could handle herself.  
“Are you actually falling for Mikey Way?”  
Lily shrugged, motioning the waiter.  
“He’s hot and I’m kinda intrigued.”  
“He’s dangerous and he had his heart broken so for me, don’t.”  
Claire smiled at Lily’s smirk and cheered as the stripper finally tossed the g-string at a bridal party. Lily considered her words, more interested than ever but knowing that Claire was probably right and there were more pressing things to worry about. The waiter appeared with another round and the girls sat back to enjoy the show and the company, giggling over more strippers until both were more than a little wasted.   
“I will be careful to leave alone then. Is Gee fair game?”  
“If you can pull him away from Frank and Mikey then sure.”  
Lily couldn’t help but laugh, ignoring a text from Tom that demanded to know if she was ok before reaching for another drink. There was an element of danger in all of it and yet she could see that Claire was equally as open to that danger and wondered why her friend was so willing to deal with it. Sure she loved Frank, Lily could see it anytime his name was mentioned and yet…  
“Don’t you get tired of sharing him?”  
Claire shook her head.  
“No, that’s how its always been and Frank is worth it. So is everything else that goes along with it, can’t deny its exciting.”  
“You’re more likely to end up dead than I am. Which is saying something considering the job I do.”  
Lily watched her friend nod, somehow it seemed Claire didn’t care.  
“Family business, I’m in too deep now anyway and hell, if we’re gonna die we might as wel really live.”  
Glasses clinked together as the women toasted that and the camaraderie that had picked up where they had left off as kids. Maybe this was how it was supposed to be anyway and it sure as hell beat the regular nine to five. Lily pulled Claire closer and winked at her.  
“Tell me about Gerard then bar from being pretty and a sub. Wasn’t he going to be President at one point?”  
Claire nodded, choosing her words carefully.  
“He got shot and it changed him. He can be as unstable as Mikey at times so if you like a challenge that would be it.”  
Lily giggled, the alcohol catching up with her and the urge to maybe try out both Way boys was getting harder to ignore. Claire put yet another round on the tab and then paid for the stripper they had admired most to come and perform solely for them. By the time he had finished neither could stop laughing or stand without help so she decided the night needed to come to a close.  
Claire grabbed Lily’s hand away from the strippers ass and tried to find her phone to call at least one of the boys to get them home. Frank would probably be the best option seeing as he could send one of the captains but she kinda wasn’t in the mood for the lecture and decided on Gerard instead. The boy was usually easier to persuade and happy to come out and pick Claire up when she slipped away from home. She decided that bothering Mikey when Lily clearly intended to go after him was just asking for trouble and so tapped Gee’s number and waited for it to connect.  
“Hey…Claire, is that you?”  
Claire wobbled over to the nearest door and tried to collect her thoughts.  
“Gee baby, of course its me.”  
“You’re wasted and its three in the morning. Frank has most of the boys out looking for you.”  
“Fuck….”  
There was a giggle from the other end of the phone and a pause as Claire grabbed Lily and pulled her towards the foyer of the club. Lily had found a joint from somewhere and was now intent on adding a little high to the proceedings. Claire couldn’t resist, taking a puff as an irate voice came onto the phone and she shivered, Frank in this mood was a turn on.  
“Where the fuck are you?”  
“Angelo’s. Don’t be mad Frankie.”  
“Stay there and wait, gonna send Jared down while I call the others back.”  
The phone cut off and Claire put a finger to her lips, turning to look at Lily.  
“He’s a bit pissed.”  
The other woman shrugged, the joint passing between them.  
“Drunk or angry?”  
“Angry. We should go clean up.”  
They staggered towards the rest room, splashing cold water on their faces didn’t really help but the pot of coffee from the guy behind the bar did a little more. None of the staff at the bar wanted to risk a visit from Mikey for not looking after the bosses’ wife and her friend so were content to sit the girls down until Manny arrived. Claire liked Jared, he was a calm and gentle guy that seemed almost too nice to be a mobster and the fact that he looked like a model seemed to keep Lily from doing nothing but staring. For his part Jared just wanted to get them back safely, the boss was not a man to annoy when he was already throwing things around at home. Gerard had headed north, Mikey had gone south and he had no doubt that the ladies would be in trouble when all of them got back.  
“Time to go Mrs Iero.”  
Claire took his arm and pulled Lily up, the three of them heading out to the only car in the now empty lot. It had turned cold and the girls were grateful for the blankets in the back, half dozing as Jared pulled the car out into the night. It was a good three quarters of an hour drive back and he checked the back to see that indeed Lily was now asleep and Claire was texting Frank to reassure him they were on the way back.  
Claire read the return message again and smiled, Frankie had moved on from being mad and was now promising spankings that seemed to include Lily too. Well her friend wanted some fun, lets see how she handles all three of them….  
The thought was cut off as a hail of gunfire started up around them. She acted on instinct as the car swerved, pulling Lily down into the footwell and bracing herself. Claire could feel the car spinning, Lily now awake and almost too dazed to yell as Jared’s bullet riddled corpse arrived in the back seat with them and everything went black.


	9. Chapter 9

Bullets pinged off the mangled car roof as Claire tried frantically to reach her bag.  
Inside were the two things that would save them, her gun and her phone. If she could keep the attackers at bay long enough to contact Frank then they had a chance. There was no doubt her man would send Mikey and Gerard with enough arms to start a war if only they could hold out that long.   
Several other cars had fishtailed as the car crashed and more had been abandoned as automatic gunfire screamed across the interchange. All around them people were screaming and running, Claire tempted to join them and blend into the crowd. Only problem with that was that Lily was still trapped in the wreckage, a head wound bleeding quite badly which caused Claire to fire another couple of rounds and check herself over. She was cut with flying glass and no doubt would be aching all over in the morning but nothing seemed too badly damaged as she finally heard the phone connect. She didn’t give Frank the chance to speak.  
“Somebody took us down. Fourth and Pico.”  
She fired another couple of shots over the car roof, the screams echoing a little louder around them and heard the line go dead meaning Frank understood exactly what was happening and help was on its way. She leant forward, shaking Lily’s shoulder until her friend groaned and tried to sit up only for another volley to cause her to duck again with a yell.  
“What the fuck!?!”  
“We’re in trouble, can you move?”  
Lily shook her head, the pain making her wince as she realised one ankle was trapped under the buckled seat. With some impressive effort she managed to shift it an inch before staring back up at Claire with a shake of her head.  
“I’m stuck. Go, run.”  
Claire looked grim, she could see another man with a gun trying to skirt around them and knew she only had one spare clip. Lily had seen him too, leaning back into the car to reach the corpse and the gun under his arm. Trying to ignore the glassy eyed stare of the dead man she released the safety and sent a shot over the advancing gunman’s head. It was a wild shot but enough to make the man duck and Claire now leant down to see if she could see where Lily was trapped.  
“Frank is coming. We just need to stay alive.”  
Lily tried to keep tabs on the man, the gunfire seeming to have abated which worried her. If the men in front were skirting around the back too then they were in real trouble. She swore loudly in Russian and leant down too, both of them working on the stubborn piece of metal. Still it wouldn’t shift but they could hear gunshots again, one ricocheting off the window frame above them. Claire sent another shot in that direction and managed to wing one of the shooters, tipping him onto the pavement with a scream.  
“Didn’t know you could speak Russian.”  
“I lived in Moscow for a while, got shot at there too.”  
Claire giggled, the two women sharing a smile as with one last tug the metal gave way and Lily could slide her ankle free. The pain was intense, Claire half dragging her away from the wreckage and behind another car nearer to the opposite side of the street. Now they had some cover and it would be hard for anyone to flank them. Lily checked the clip, Claire realising they had less than ten shots between them.  
“We need to get to an alley. Anything out of sight.”  
Lily tried to see over the edge of the car window, men dressed in black seemed to be coming at them from several angles and all of them were armed. For the first time a bolt of genuine fear went through her and she ducked back down. Claire was still scanning the street behind them as they scrambled back behind the next car to them.  
“We’re looking at trying to take down at least five shooters.”  
Claire nodded.  
“We need a distraction.”  
Lily grinned, before Claire could say another word she had crawled out from behind the car and whistled, another two shots sent over the heads of the men causing them to be a little cautious but drawing them away from Claire’s position. It was risky but seeing little choice Claire crawled in the other direction and did the same.  
Everything seemed to have narrowed down, Lily realising that this was probably a bad move with one leg out of action and half blind from the blood in her eyes. In desperation she crawled under the car and waited. Running footsteps of pedestrians seemed to flash past and then she saw combat boots, her mind freezing as she tried desperately not to move. For an age they paused until much louder gunfire started up all around them forcing Lily to plug her ears and stay put.  
Claire realised it was rescue, Mikey and two of the captains were now in the street, black clad bodies both falling and fleeing as Frank appeared behind them.  
She had to smile, he looked magnificent and really angry, kicking one man in the face as he tried to rise and following it up with a bullet to the skull. He was looking around frantically and Claire heard her name, half throwing herself over the bonnet of the car.  
“Frankie!”  
He turned, both relief and rage still on his face as he raced towards her and threw himself over the car bonnet. Mikey was in rage mode, anything that moved now a target as civilians continued to cower and the surviving attackers decided running was now the only option. Relief surged through Claire as Frank reached her.  
“You ok?”  
“I think so. Jared is dead.”  
Frank glanced around, Mikey was still clearing the shooters with his men fanning out around him. There were sirens in the distance and he knew they had to get out of sight before the cops arrived. This wasn’t unexpected, their little ruse had pitted the two other main players in the city against each other and war was breaking out all over. It was only annoying that his wife had decided to put herself in the middle of it.  
“Where’s Lily?”  
Claire glanced around, not sure what to make of the emptying streets.  
“She went that way, trying to create a diversion.”  
Frank motioned to one of the captains and helped Claire back around to the huge black SUV they had arrived in. Gerard was in the drivers seat making sure their man on the police unit took his time as he smiled at Claire, relief written over his features. She finally let herself relax as all the aches and pains started to intrude.  
“Look what I found.”  
Mikey was deadpan, the gun swinging around as he carried Lily to the car and pushed her in beside Claire before looking over at Frank. The Don nodded, knowing that Mikey would clean up and make sure their involvement was kept to a minimum as far as the cops were concerned. His boy slammed the door as Gerard pulled away and Frankie turned to look at the two women.  
“Now what the fuck did you think you were doing?”  
“Just an evening out, didn’t realise that would kick off.”  
Claire could see Frank was trying not to grin and dropped her lip.  
“Guess the punishment just got worse.”  
Lily smirked, seeing Gerard wink at her in the mirror.  
“Nope, that’s your punishment. No spankings.”  
“Now that’s just mean. Seriously though, what was that?”  
Frank settled back in his seat as Gerard swung the car onto open highway and towards home. He checked his phone, various messages from all sides were coming in just as he suspected they would and already some parts of the city were burning.   
“That’s the commencement of phase two. Gee, what’s the word?”  
Gerard glanced back in the mirror, his eyes showing the first hint of the madness that lay within.  
“Feds are watching it. Mandini came after us after one of Cesaro’s men took out his number two.”  
Lily gratefully accepted another handkerchief from Frank and tried to staunch the blood still flowing from the gash in her head.  
“This is all great but you need to tell me what phase two is now I nearly died for you.”  
Frank had somewhat of a smug grin on his face.  
“Well the first bit of it is don’t go looking for ass when there’s loads of it at home. The rest I will explain once you two are patched up.”  
Claire swallowed down her smile, a text from Mikey saying he was behind them and the cops would have little to go on. The first blush of dawn was lighting the horizon as the cars pulled into the compound and Frank brought his family home.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire suggested Lets Get It On as the tune for this one :D

Mikey wandered into the kitchen at ten the next morning already on the phone.  
“Keep Cesaro’s people talking. Frank wants them on side before he agrees to meet the big man. Plus don’t forget we have a shipment coming in this afternoon, I’ll be over at two.”  
He glanced up, surprised to see Lily seated at the table. Their pet doctor had given both the women the once over when they had returned to the compound and now Lily’s sprained ankle was bandaged and propped up on a pillow. She smiled at him as he came in and went back to reading the paper was Mikey just blinked and carried on his conversation.  
“Gee says we got some trouble coming on from the Feds. Drop me a text.”  
He put his phone back in the pocket and made coffee, noticing that Lily’s mug was empty and making her one too before sitting down at the table opposite her. Mikey didn’t hide his appraisal of her, admitting to himself that she was an attractive woman and the sex would probably be awesome before reminding himself that he wasn’t going there.  
“Didn’t expect to see you up yet. How are you feeling?”  
Lily considered the question.  
“Sore. Wasn’t quite what I was expecting.”  
“Don’t go out without a guard next time.”  
She stared at him, the temper flashing across her face.  
“Yes daddy.”  
Mikey giggled, the sound surprising her enough that Lily smiled and couldn’t be mad.  
“Just saying be careful. Things are getting ugly out there.”  
“Can you tell me about this phase two thing? Getting shot at is not something I like happening too often.”  
He sipped his coffee, ignoring the phone ringing in his pocket.  
“Frank has the plans, not me. I just got shipments to check and captains to yell at with Gee.”  
Lily nodded absently, pretty sure he knew the damn plan.  
“So I just….wait.”  
“You have a sprained ankle, plenty of cuts and bruises I suspect and Claire is not better. Enjoy the downtime.”  
Mikey smirked, unable to resist winding her up a little as he saw the temper flare in her face. He had done his own digging on her and had been able to inform Frank that the PI had missed a couple of things from Lily’s CV. That had intrigued both men more and he wondered why she had been economical in letting slip some of the more interesting jobs she had done. He didn’t trust her and somehow that made fucking her more enticing.  
“So I’m a prisoner.”  
Mikey shook his head.  
“In a way I guess. I can send my brother to keep you company.”  
“Sure, your brother is a hot piece of ass.”  
Mikey nodded, watching her reaction.  
“Well I think so.”  
Lily giggled.  
“Claire told me all about you lot so don’t think you can shock me.”  
“Oh I am sure I could….”  
There was a pause both of them staring at each other before she picked up her mug and motioned towards the paper. It had turned into a game now, Lily well aware that he was finding it harder not to give into the lust and Mikey equally aware that she considered him a challenge. That amused him and he leant back in his chair as she pointed to the headline.  
“I understand starting a war to take the heat of you guys but the Feds will come down on you just as hard.”  
“We have political power although its behind the scenes now.”  
Lily glanced up, biting her lip.  
“Claire told me about that too. For what its worth, I’m sorry.”  
Mikey winced ever so slightly, he still couldn’t think about James without the burning rage wanting to break through. It had never been resolved to his satisfaction and the injustice sometimes got to him.  
“Thanks, risks of what we do but….anyway, Frank has these plans within plans. Gerard would probably be the better one for explaining it. I just point and shoot.”  
Lily giggled, relaxing a little.  
“I just break in and pinch. Guess I shall enjoy the rest then.”  
She went to stand, thinking to put the mugs in the sink and then follow the tall man’s advice and spend the rest of the day in bed. Mikey watched her struggle, clearly in a little pain and yet…determined. Finally with a sigh he stood and simply scooped her up much as he had the night before. Lily wound her arms around his neck and looked up at him quizzically which caused him to shrug.  
“You shouldn’t be walking on it. Where to?”  
“Well it’s a cliché but bedroom please, may as well sleep and try to avoid the hangover.”  
Mikey carried her along the corridor and up the stairs, passing a grinning Gerard who got the finger from both of them. It had been a source of amusement to the older brother that the younger was trying to exercise some self control. Good natured teasing had earned him a few hours of rough spanking and some quite delightful games involving a pair of pliers and Mikey’s fists. Now it looked as though Mikey would owe him twenty bucks.  
Lily had the guest room in the north wing. It was dark and serene, one of Claire’s favourites and suitably gothic. It also overlooked the gardens and the early morning sun made Lily wince as Mikey carefully put her down and looked around. He drew the blinds, the temperature in the room seeming to creep up as she watched and waited to see if he would give in or manage to leave and continue the game a while longer.  
Mikey steeled himself, managing to get to the door before realising that she had slipped off the silk robe she had been wearing and was basically naked underneath it. Lily turned to him, not shy about him seeing her that way and now convinced he would have to give in. Mikey remained his usual poker face although there was a catch in his voice.  
“C’mon, we said no.”  
“You said no.”  
“Yeah, I said no.”  
She merely smirked at him, almost tripping into his arms as her ankle buckled and now he knew it was too late, the kiss between them seeming to set the air on fire as he pulled her against him a little more. Without warning he turned, throwing her on the bed with a snarl that made Lily catch her breath.  
“You sure about this? I told you, I’m not a nice guy.”  
She stared up at him, a hint of threat in her voice.  
“And I’m not some sweet little thing you can dominate. So come get some if you think you’re man enough.”  
Mikey half smiled, his shirt joining the robe on the floor as he crawled up her body, Lily already reaching for his belt as one hand circled around and pulled her hair back. He kissed her harder, nothing gentle about it as the struggle for control made left both of them panting, a groan dragged from him as she finally freed him and stroked him into hardness. Mikey smiled in earnest now, she was struck how beautiful he was and for a moment lost concentration.  
That was all it took.  
Mikey easily pinned Lily’s wrists above her head, the other hand slapping her hard. She gasped, licking the tiny droplet of blood as his head dropped to her neck, nipping and biting at the soft skin as she wriggled in his grip.  
“You wanted this, don’t you want this now?”  
She stubbornly wouldn’t answer him, fighting to get free as Mikey retrieved his belt. Lily wasn’t a strong girl but Tom had been pretty good at teaching her self defence and with a determined flick of her hips she managed to struggle out from under him and reverse their positions. He wanted to fight but she rolled her hips against his body, now his turn to be kissed and caressed. Mikey wasn’t about to fight the pleasure, almost enjoying that she wouldn’t give in to him like Gerard did, instead paying back the slap with one of her own that made his head ring.  
“I want it. You want it.”  
She let go of his wrists, teasing his cock with the warmth of her body as she leant back on him. Mikey sighed, he couldn’t fight it no matter how bad he might regret it after but he’d be damned if she was going to get her own way. Lily yelped as he twisted, turning her onto her stomach and easily catching her wrists again. Despite how she struggled Mikey had too much experience to let go and wrapped the belt around the metal rails of the bed, making sure it bit into her skin as he pulled it tight. He slapped her ass hard and giggled.  
“You’re right, I do but you get to find out the hard way just how I like it.”  
“You bitch!”  
Immediately he yanked back her head, the friendly smile back on his face.  
“That’s sir to you.”  
Lily was about to protest but was stopped, now realising what he had in mind as he gently lifted her up. One hand cupped her mound, fingers easily finding their way inside as she was too wet and turned on to want him to stop. Mikey let her enjoy it for a while, liking that she leant back onto his hand and didn’t hide the soft groans he was inducing.  
That ended with another hard slap to her ass and he got up, pulling her head to him. Lily couldn’t stop herself, eager to taste and touch him as he held her there, only allowing her to suck and lick at the head of his cock before brutally choking her with it. Lily gagged, unable to pull back thanks to the belt and not entirely wanting to. It was too erotic to hear him groan almost despite himself and she wasn’t about to let him win this power struggle without a fight.  
Mikey knew he was hurting her, the bruises and cuts from the gunfight showed up vivid against her pale skin and he tested the pain there, not just to cause the pain that always made the pleasure deeper but to see how she would react. Lily wriggled, the catch in her breath making her lips tremble around him and neither could stop the moans of painful enjoyment that it brought.   
Almost silently he pulled away, one hand pushing her head back down onto the pillows as he used the other to hook her hips and lift them. There was again no warning or preparation but there was almost none needed. It was inevitable and Mikey loved that she arched her back as he fucked her, one hand clenched in her hair as he mercilessly took exactly what he wanted. Lily couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move almost and it made the aching pleasure of both his cock and the various scrapes and bruises all the better.   
Mikey growled, he wanted so badly to cum but he hadn’t won the game just yet and Lily was still defying him, smirking over her shoulder as he ground his hips against her ass. Clearly there was still that lesson to be learned and he toyed with the idea of not asking and just fucking her ass till she screamed…tempting but….  
Instead a better idea entered his mind and he stopped fighting, allowing his orgasm to peak and relieve itself, the shout of her name echoing across the room as his vision whited out. Lily felt it, so hot and even more intense as she fought to breathe. She was close, so close to her own and almost bit through her lip as she felt him pull out of her and collapse onto his back beside her. For a moment she thought he might finish the job before realising he was reaching for the cigarettes from his jeans.  
“What the hell, Mikey!?!”  
“What?”  
His grin was exasperating.  
“You’re just going to leave me hanging.”  
Lily stared in utter amazement as he got up with a lazy smile and pulled his jeans on. She struggled harder against the belt as he wandered to the door and leant against it watching her as she swore at him in three languages and continued to wriggle. He opened the door with a final comment that produced even more profanity that followed him into the corridor.  
“You didn’t say please.”


	11. Chapter 11

Screams echoed around the warehouse.  
Rending screams, the sound only produced by the most intense nerve ripping pain that made seconds seem like days and the wish for death almost as strong. It was followed by harsh retching sobs as Gerard took a step back to admire his handiwork, smiling as his brother’s hand caressed the back of his head. The boy strapped into the chair brought up more blood and started to plead for his life again.  
“P…P…please I’ll do anything.”  
Mikey nuzzled against Gerard, his voice flat.  
“Far too late for that.”  
The boy started to sob again, looking every inch the terrified twenty one year old he was. Gerard had seen it all before, snot nosed kids that thought they could be a made man by selling out the very people who had given them opportunity. It hadn’t taken long for Frank to make an educated guess about where the traitor might be although it was the brothers that had done the digging and made the connection.  
“I…I… didn’t mean it to go so far….god, please….”  
Mikey kissed up Gerard’s hair and relieved him of the hammer. He might look rail thin but he had been a professional killer since his teens and one measured blow disintegrated the boy’s other knee cap as another howl rang out. It was silenced as Mikey aimed another exactly on the spot where Gerard had been aiming it before and more of the boy’s ribs broke, forcing bone fragments deeper into his lungs.  
“Accept this. Die like a man, better men than you have done it.”  
The two men circled the chair like sharks, Gerard never tired of watching his brother work and was almost painfully aroused. He kept his eyes lowered, knowing better than to interrupt and aware that the boy could still be useful.  
“He needs to tell us Mikes…”  
“Yes. He does.”  
The boy stared up at them, wide eyed from pain and fear.  
“I told you everything, it was her that gave me the information for Mandini!”  
Mikey smiled and time seemed to freeze.  
“This can go one of two ways. You and I both know one of the captains in our crew got you in no matter what Carl’s wife might have told you. SO you can give him up and your friends will be told you died in service of the family….”  
Gerard was on the other side of the chair and finished the sentence.  
“Or you can continue to lie, die anyway and your family will find out what happens to traitors up close and personal.”  
The utter horror of that thought seemed to stop even the pain and the boy dropped his head. Mikey had been watching Gee, knowing he always wanted to fuck after they had been playing his kind of games. Work had to come first, he was aware that Frank had gone to deal with the unfortunate captain who’s wife had been fucking the kid and talking too much after. The man was a long time soldier and the boss wouldn’t go too hard but the wife would have to go and the simple threat that anything less and Michael would deal with it was usually enough for most people to obey.  
“It….it was Thomas.”  
The boy didn’t beg anymore, didn’t even seem able to muster up the strength to cry as Gerard nodded and folded his arms. Another one who thought he was smart and could play the boss in return for a bribe and a chance to better himself. Another one who would die pleading only this one would be more public and probably messier.  
“See? Just as well, Gerard does so love pretty men and that brother of yours is cute.”  
Mikey giggled as the boy started to scream again, fighting violently against the ropes until Gerard put the gun against his head and pulled the trigger. The chair tipped sideways, the corpse twitching on the floor as Gerard pulled out his phone and called Manny to arrange to have the other man picked up. While it might have suited Frank to use the betrayal to further his war with the families it didn’t mean that it would go unpunished, all the loose ends needed to be tied up before Frank left for the Caribbean the following day. Therefore there was more violent punishment needed before the boys could relax and let the Irish gang follow Frank’s orders and up the war. Soon the feds would be looking the other way and the real job would start.  
“I knew that fucking Thomas was up to some shit.”  
Mikey kissed Gerard’s pout and kicked the corpse over.  
“He’s a dead man bro, fancy a little bonfire? Haven’t used petrol in a while.”  
“Whatever you want….”  
Mikey smirked, motioning with one finger.  
“Come here.”  
Gerard giggled, avoiding the spreading blood and wandering over to where Mikey stood. There wasn’t a word between them, Mikey simply landing a haymaker punch to the gut that forced Gerard down to his knees. He liked that, pulling his brother’s head back by the hair and noticing that Gerard still kept his eyes on the floor, well trained indeed and Mikey knew he had Frank to thank for that.   
“There’s my bitch. Now then, what do you want?”  
“To please you.”  
Mikey considered letting him do that just that before remembering that Frankie was promising a tequila party before they flew out and would expect his boy to be in enough shape to keep Claire happy about flying. Forever the willing slut that Gerard was, it wasn’t wise to cross the boss and his beloved and so taking his own pleasure would have to wait until they landed. Still, there were other means to an end and nothing got Mikey off like violence. The amusement flashed across his face as he remembered that Lily still wasn’t talking to him. He landed a hard slap across Gee’s face and winked.  
“And you do but you’ll have to wait and I have a job for you.”  
Gerard licked the blood from his lip and waited, almost trembling.  
“Yes sir.”  
“You know I don’t trust Lily right?”  
Surprise crossed the older man’s face and he started to look a little uncomfortable. Gerard admired his little brother and his single mindedness but sometimes it clashed with what Frank wanted and things got downright uncomfortable. He waited, still on his knees as Mikey wandered around the corpse and went through the dead man’s pockets. There wasn’t much there but Mikey pocketed the cash and the phone.  
“So you’re going to get close to her. Fuck her if you want, she’s pretty good, but find out what her angle is. She’s hiding something and I want to know what.”  
Gerard bit his lip and Mikey turned, something dark crossing his face.  
“Well?”  
“She’s Claire’s friend and Frank said…”  
Mikey rolled his eyes and crossed back to Gerard, grabbing him by the hair towards the bench at the far end. There was no point in begging, once Mikey was set on something it was better just to say yes but the hesitation would cost him and the part of Gee that enjoyed humiliation just lapped it up. Mikey picked up a wrench and waved it under Gee’s nose.  
“Do I have to make myself clear?”  
Gerard winced, Mikey was hard and he loved the feel against his thigh.  
“No sir.”  
Mikey grinned, kissing Gerard before slamming the wrench into his knee. Gee went over with a pained yelp and tried not to cry out any further. There was a way around this but he would have to be careful and the damaged part of his brain was already screaming out to pass this onto some other poor sap and have them beg for a change. Keeping his eyes down, he stood gingerly and tested his weight on the now throbbing limb. Mikey was an expert in dishing out punishment and while he would feel it for days he could still walk.  
His brother was already striding towards the door, picking up a can of fuel on the journey and talking over his shoulder as they both left the charnel house behind and headed towards Mikey’s car. The sun shone down, the mess would be gone within an hour and the last job of the day would leave them free for some rest and relaxation.  
“We still need to pack for this trip.”  
Gerard giggled, his arm going around Mikey’s shoulder.  
“Why bother? Nudity rules bro.”


	12. Chapter 12

Frank smiled and closed his eyes.  
The sun was baking down on him as he lay in the pool, cool water making it comfortable as Claire was nuzzled into his shoulder. Vacations pleased him more than they used to, at one time he would have hated laying around doing nothing but now it was almost too pleasant to make love to his wife for a morning and then soak in the water with a beer in one hand.  
“Frankie, look.”  
Claire giggled as he opened one eye and she pointed over to another spot on the edge of the beach. They owned the resort and hotel which made a good deal of money for the family and was now the foremost on the island. It meant when Frank wanted to get way he could at a moments notice if work permitted and also came in handy for times when it was useful for him or any of his friends to be out of the country.  
“What the fuck is he doing?”  
“I don’t know but I think she likes it.”  
Frank chuckled, in the week that they had been in Jamaica Gerard had decided to dye his hair bright red and was now seemingly attempting to teach Lily how to play golf. He was cradling her, clearly instructing on the swing as Mikey stood near them doubled over with laughter. The last ball had done several ricochets from neighbouring palm trees and was now somewhere on the ocean shore along with previously fallen brethren.  
“You know the gory details babe, do tell.”  
Claire leaned in conspiratorially and kissed up his neck.  
“Well she and Mikey did fuck but I think now she and Gee have been….well if not fucking then at least edging towards it.”  
Frank nodded, the way she was rubbing against him made thought more difficult.  
“Gerard needs someone that isn’t us so hey, good luck to him. At least it’s a better idea than Lily and Mikey.”  
Claire giggled and sat up, pouring them all another drink as golf was abandoned and their friends headed up the beach to join them. A waiter appeared at Frank’s beckoning and laid out a picnic along with more champagne and soon all of them were chatting about anything and everything, glad for once to be away from death and violence.  
“I think I was getting the hang of it.”  
Mikey stuck his tongue out at Lily.  
“Three dead birds said not.”  
“Fuck you Mikey.”  
She winked at him, her head against Gerard’s chest.  
“Been there, done that.”  
Mikey found that despite himself he had started to like Lily but was amused that Gee was going along with the plan and seemingly developing feelings along with it. Part of him was almost jealous but…Mikey knew that channelling his brother’s less sane side into a relationship might work out. He leaned across and grabbed another chicken wing before looking over at Frank.  
“Any problems at home boss?  
“Hagan got raided, the feds seem to be looking at both our friends and of course, usual requests for questioning when we get back. All according to plan basically.”  
Claire watched the beach, she had a sixth sense when Frank was trying to hide something and knew he being economical so pinched him on the nipple. Gerard buried his grin, noting that Frank yelped but still seemed content not to continue.  
“Out with it Iero.”  
Claire, really…I mean I could tell them the sex swing got delivered but I thought that was our secret.”  
Gerard choked on his beer, Lily now expounding on just who would be swinging in that as Claire decided to get some answers out of the only other person that was bound to know. She sidled over to Mikey and climbed in his lap, one hand twirling fingers up his thigh. The tall man grinned, he liked the lust in her eyes as she stared up at him.  
“Mikey….”  
“I know nothing, I swear it.”  
Gerard smirked, his face buried in Lily’s hair. In fact it was he that knew the other important thing that was going on. A deal between him and Frank to make sure that they didn’t go home and walk into another round of trouble. He had negotiated a fake sale of the stolen art they had seen at Mandini’s which would implicate the man not only to the Feds but Interpol. Anytime those two agencies crossed it caused headaches for the man in charge which again meant that Frank’s political enemies would be kept busy.  
“Use the ice cubes Claire.”  
“Gerard, you’re my brother and supposed to be on my side.”  
“I am but you squirm so pretty.”  
He laughed and ducked as a handful of ice came flying his way. It instead hit Lily and slid down somewhere that Gee was quite willing to help with but couldn’t for giggles. She fished out the offending cube and sucked on it, eyes now fixed on Frank. He noticed, the sexual tension starting to rise between them. Frank always enjoyed smart women who just might kill him and knew that Claire was just as keen on bringing Lily fully into the family and their somewhat bed swapping lifestyle.  
“Is it phase two?”  
Frank shook his head.  
“No quite.”  
“So tell me.”  
Mikey and Gerard exchanged a glance, if Lily was going to decide to walk it would be when she found out just what Frank had planned. There were very few people who would even entertain the idea of trying to take on the FBI but Mikey had found out that Lily had done something insane in Moscow and was prepared to reveal it if needed.  
Frank sat back, Claire now in his lap as he tried to make the idea sound appealing.  
“I’m planning a robbery, a very big robbery. Stage one of which is to wiretap the feds. To do that I need a very good thief to get into their building and plant it.”  
Four expectant faces looked at Lily, her face incredulous.  
“You want me to break into an FBI building, are you fucking insane?”  
“Is that a yes?”  
Lily grabbed her drink and downed it followed closely by Gerard’s.  
“It’s a fuck no, if anything goes wrong then I’m going down for forty years.”  
Gerard ran his fingers down her back, his eyes on Frank as he spoke softly.  
“It won’t go wrong, you have us backing you up.”  
“I’m good but I’m not that good.”  
Mikey leant forward, his voice low but with something of a hard edge.  
“Except you are because you managed something very similar with the SVR.”  
Lily paled, pulling away from Gee to glance at Claire.  
“Moscow was different. I had two years to plan that and even then it was a low level intelligence grab. I didn’t take anything or leave a trace behind. Plus I now can’t set in Europe for another decade.”  
Claire reached over, taking her hand.  
“The boys won’t let anything happen to you and the payoff will mean you don’t ever have to work again. What we’re planning will mean we can all retire.”  
Lily paused, something of a chill going up her back.  
“Retire or die. What’s to stop you putting a bullet in my head when you have what you want?”  
Frank smirked, Lily thought he had never looked quite so young or innocent than in that moment which put this paradox into perspective.  
“Nothing except my word. Which you have and besides, there’s no advantage to me in killing you. Someone of your talents is always useful.”  
Lily snarled and stood, turning away as he watched her.  
“Great. I’m gonna have to think about this.”  
They watched her walk away, Frank happy to let her think about it was much as she might want. Mikey and Gerard would make sure that there was no walking away even if Lily tried and now he turned to Claire, pulling her into a long kiss before smiling.  
“Claire darling, go make sure our friend doesn’t wander off. Me and the boys have business and then dinner, shall we say eight?”  
Claire nodded, this dinner party was likely the thing that would seal the deal.  
“Of course baby, until later.”  
Gerard stood, pulling Frank up as Mikey gathered up the glasses and they headed back inside.   
“I think that went better than expected.”  
“She didn’t scream.”  
Frank watched the two women talking on the shoreline.  
“Its on boys, time to go to war.”


	13. Chapter 13

“There is no way in fucking hell that I am doing it.”  
“But you love a challenge.”  
“Challenge yes. Forty years in jail as some butch lesbian’s bitch, no…”  
Claire sniggered and poured another shot of tequila into Lily’s glass. They were lying on the floor of Claire and Frank’s suite, loud music blasting out as they worked their way through the tequila and debated Frank’s proposition. Both were past drunk and screeching towards unconsciousness but Claire knew that this was the most likely course of action that would see her get what she wanted. There was no doubt her friend was capable of doing the job although she totally understood the reluctance. Lily swallowed down the shot, pointing the glass towards the door.  
“Even IF I did the job and didn’t die or get caught, its gonna end bad.”  
Claire pondered, there was some truth there.  
“Frank doesn’t do this kind of thing without a back up plan.”  
“Your husband is going to shoot me isn’t he?”  
Her friend waved her hands in a vaguely reassuring way that involved another shot each.  
“No, of course not!”  
Lily nodded, slightly mollified.  
“He’ll get Mikey to do it.”  
Claire roared with laughter at the look on Lily’s face and then hugged her hard. It was also understandable to be worried of the consequences of dealing with Frank and the boys. Even so she could see that Lily was coming around to the idea as they moved on to discussing just how one would break into somewhere highly guarded and seemingly untouchable.   
“You have to do it in day time. Fuck getting in at night when the alarms are on.”  
Lily considered how much tequila was left before continuing.  
“So you have to walk through the front door.”  
Claire shook her head as the door opened. Frank was pushing a trolley followed by the Way boys with yet more food and booze. They paused to survey the two women before Frank shook his head with a smirk.  
“You owe me five bucks Gee, said they’d be drunk.”  
Claire returned his smile, something triumphant creeping in.  
“Lily agreed to do the job.”  
“I did not! I was just hypotho….hypotho…working out how I’d do it.”  
Gerard wandered over to her, scooping Lily into his arms as the food was laid out and everyone sat around deciding what to eat from the lavish thread. Frank was at peace, his family around him and he noticed how Lily was comfortable enough to lay in Gee’s arms as Mikey rested his head on Gee’s shoulder. He gathered Claire closer to him and poured wine. The food helped the girls sober up a little and soon talk turned back to the plan.  
“You think you can do this?”  
Lily looked up at Frank.  
“It can be done but like I said to Claire, it would mean walking in the front door.”  
“Fake ID is easy to come by but something to get past the feds might take some work.”  
Mikey picked up another beer.  
“You’re in then.”  
All eyes turned to Lily and she paused, unable to deny the rush that this would bring.  
“Fine, I’m in but after that I’m gone.”  
Frank smiled, leaning across to kiss her gently.  
“They all say that but thank you.”  
“And no shooting me.”  
Frank shrugged, causing Claire to poke him as Gerard laughed and said that would mean he had to shoot Frank. Thereafter followed a short conversation on who would win a shoot out between all of them before Claire pointed out that would mean that she would own everything. Lily toasted her and wondered again how she had got in this mess.  
“I know a guy who could get us a tap that would survive the sweeps the feds do. Won’t be cheap though.”  
Claire watched for Frank’s response, he had always hated using outsiders and wondered if it would go that way before an easy smile crossed his face.  
“Already got my Chinese contacts working on it.”  
She dug her husband in the ribs.  
“No more business talk, we’re supposed to be having fun.”  
Mikey grinned lazily, leaning across his brother to kiss Lily. The look on her face make Frank giggle even more as Gerard ran his fingers through her hair. Drunk enough to be amused and more than a little up for experimentation, Lily decided to make them work for it and pushed them both off.  
“You two really do share everything then.”  
Gerard shrugged.  
“Sure do, it’s the best method of having fun.”  
Lily crawled to Claire and kissed her, making sure to catch the amused surprise on Frank’s face.  
“Well that works too.”  
“Sure does….uhhhh Claire…”  
Claire giggled, hugging Lily as the shot glasses lined up again.  
“Think they mistook what us sharing a flat was all about.”  
Three pairs of now slightly amazed eyes stared at them as the girls collapsed into fits of giggles. Frank decided that was an excuse to kiss both women and his favourite brothers. Gee turned on the music and sat back, Lily in his lap again.  
“Besides the lesbian overtones to this conversation, who’s up for the hot tub?”  
A chorus of enthusiasm rose up.  
“Naked hot tub?”  
“Is there any other way?”  
Claire wobbled, standing now proving to be slightly more difficult as she wandered over to the huge patio doors that lead out to the private veranda. It looked out over the sea, the sun starting to go down as she turned on the bubbles. One look back into the room caused her to smile, Mikey was gathering bottles as Gerard kissed Lily enthusiastically and her husband retrieved his phone. She noted that Frank was still refusing to quite let go of everything at home and decided to put a stop to it.  
The man himself heard his friends laughing around him as clothes were shed and a considerable amount of water ended up on the deck. He scrolled through, nothing there to bother him although it seemed that not as much chaos as he had hoped was raging. There would be time to do something about that when they got back but one call he had to make and he waved to Claire as he walked back into the room.  
“Hey, its me. How’s the back ground checks going?”  
The answer made something dark cross his face and he leaned out again to look at his friends in the tub. There was some satisfaction in being proved right even if it made things more difficult later on down the line. For now, it was going his way.  
“Interesting but not unsurprising. You know what to do.”


	14. Chapter 14

Lily was thinking things over.  
It had been easy to get swept along in the whole venture, from joining up because of Claire to going through with the first job just for kicks. Even when the madness with the feds had come up part of her still wanted to do it just to prove she could and the same sort of went along with fucking Mikey.  
This now was different.  
She lay across Gerard’s chest, the pair of them having left the hot tub fun after an hour or so. That in itself had been intoxicating and she smiled at the hazy memories of being between both brothers and had to admit it had been one hell of an experience. There had been no lie in what she and Claire had told them about their past and it had been good to get that intimacy back. Now though she wondered if all of it was just another layer to Frank’s plan, a way to keep her bound to them and cement the con to come.  
Frank himself was an enigma to Lily, there had been mild kissing and caressing but nothing else between them and it amused her and intrigued her at the same time. It had been fun to watch them all play together, no moral qualm about it or the rather too close relationship between the Way boys but when Gerard had suggested that they go find a drink and some privacy Lily had been happy.  
He fascinated her actually. Gerard and Lily had become close over the week that they had spent in the islands and the attraction that had started as a ruse to get back at Mikey now threatened to turn into feelings for both of them. He loved that she didn’t expect him to play sub as both his male lovers did. Gerard wasn’t going to deny that he would have it any other way but it was also nice to take control occasionally and she was perfectly willing to let him. There was a fierce independence and ruthlessness in her which Gerard wanted to explore more and he had allowed himself to consider the possibility that she could be his and his alone, something that he finally wouldn’t have to share.  
Lily had found that under the sweet surface lurked a man of depth with a subtle edge of cruelty that turned her on. He had been able to explain more of how Frank worked and how his best friend always had an angle, you just had to trust him when it seemed things were going in a different direction. Gerard had a hand in running just about every part of the operation and now she could see what Mikey had meant about getting Gee to explain things.  
“I love my brother but he tends not to see the bigger picture.”  
Lily had smiled up at him, more intent on the feelings his hands were producing on her naked skin than the entire conversation.  
“I noticed. I get the feeling you see everything.”  
Gee had smirked, words lost to both of them as the lure of his huge bed and the bottle of champagne cooling nearby had claimed their attention. He was a skilled attentive lover and certainly made sure not to leave Lily hanging as his younger brother had. In turn she had let him exercise his rougher side, the flickers in his brain caused by the bullet wound needed to come out sometimes and the mix of pain and pleasure was intoxicating and a surprise. Lily had loved men and a couple of women along the way but this was the first man who she had found quite so difficult to pin down. It was all too much of a turn on.  
She studied his profile. He was almost too pretty, an innocence about him as he slept and she had to remind herself that he was capable of being every bit as violent and unpredictable as his brother. That dichotomy puzzled Lily, in some sense it would make Gerard the more dangerous of the two as he was obviously highly intelligent and yet….he seemed happy to keep back out of Frank and Mikey’s limelight which some would say was a good idea.  
Gee murmured in his sleep and she pulled the sheets up around him, planting a soft kiss on his lips as he stirred before getting up and finding something to wear. Luckily Lily had abandoned clothes in his room more than once in the week and shorts and tee was enough in the late night heat. She was hungry, heading down to where the valets had thoughtfully left a near feast in the fridges and another bottle of beer was enough to make her light-headed. Seeing the lights still on she wandered out towards where Claire and Frank still soaked together in the pool.  
Frank raised a bottle to her, he and Claire watching as Lily headed down towards the beach and out of view. Frank was still contemplating the meaning behind his phone call earlier and had decided on a wait and watch approach, kissing his way up Claire’s neck as Lily disappeared off towards the beach front.  
“Do you think Lily and Gee are gonna end up together?”  
Claire smiled, her hand dropping beneath the bubbling water to caress him. It didn’t matter how many times they made love in one day whether the hot tub was filled with other partners or not, the craving never ceased.  
“He’s more her type than Mikey. You don’t trust her though.”  
Frank’s smile was lazy and relaxed, he had needed this downtime to prepare for everything that laid ahead and the fact that he didn’t trust Lily was neither here nor there. It would just be easier if she was trustworthy but so few people were and Frank knew all three of them were nearby.  
“No I don’t but maybe after this thing is over I will and if she makes Gee happy then that helps.”  
“Back to work soon then”  
Frank leaned over to kiss her, his arms pulling her body more firmly against his as Claire moaned and revelled in his muscled body against hers. Most of him was a riot of inked colour that she had spent many years getting to know intimately and she fell in love with him again every time.  
“We need to get the chaos going a little more before we drop Lily into the mix and it will do the boys good to cause a little trouble. Might even go with them, been years since I went out on the streets.”  
“You be careful Iero.”  
Frank shrugged, far too concerned with running soft kisses under her chin and down her neck to be too concerned about that right now. Claire sighed, there was a hunger in those kisses, a possession in them that reminded her of just what a determined man he could be when it came to taking what he wanted. She leant back against the edge of the tub and looked up at the stars and gently glowing stars as Frank contented himself with her full breasts, teasing and tormenting her with lips and fingers until she moaned his name. The familiar smirk appeared as he rested his head against her chest and enjoyed the super-heated water.  
“I just want a little fun, a little blood.”  
“And then what ?”  
He smiled, pulling Claire around and onto his lap so that he now had his back against the wall. She slid easily onto him, her legs locking around his waist as he tightened his grip until her body was pressed against his and he could look deep into her eyes. She looked amazing, the water making her pale skin shine in the moonlight and Frank wondered yet again what deal with the devil he had made to get his stunning wife to love him.  
“We retire. Enjoy the damn money this time instead of trying to make more. I’m tired of running Claire.”  
She nodded, capturing his lips again as she moved against him slowly. His breath came in short gasps, the cooling air and heat mixed with swirling water and steam as he let her control the pace and timing. He was content just to enjoy the sensation, grunting slightly as she pushed him deeper into her hot core. He didn’t want to let her go again, cold stiffened nipples grazing his and he kissed her harder. Claire’s hands pushed his sweat slickened hair away from his face, her fingers cold but gentle.  
Frank met her eyes, he loved to watch her when she made love to him. Claire had never been shy, her face expressive as her breath caught in her throat and she leant back from him, one hand slipping down to where their bodies joined so that she could touch him. He hissed, the sensation of her fingers tugging at his balls made his body heat go up another notch and he struggled not to close his eyes, wanting to see her. Claire loved the passion in his face, he could never hide his emotions and this was her favourite. In her more honest moments she would admit to being afraid of his anger.  
His moans were getting louder, no thought as to whether anyone was listening. The villa was purposely remote, the dark coming in silent and full but as the candles she had lit started to burn more brightly in the dark was still possible to see the sunset on the shore. Neither of them cared if the enemy was nearby, at that moment it didn’t matter. Only her body using him mattered until Frank could stand it no longer and lifted her from him with another strong kiss before turning her around. Claire closed her eyes, letting her arms stretch out on the top of the tub so that she could feel the sand on her fingertips and her man driving back into her from behind.  
One hand locked into her hair, the other gripping her hip as Frank gave into the desire to force her to cum around him. His back was against hers, the water splashing over the edge as his breath was hot against her ear. Claire couldn’t keep from crying out at the intensity of him inside her at this angle. It made it tight and his cock felt impossibly large as he pulled her head back and waited until he knew she was trembling on the edge of orgasm before slowing a little and murmuring her name as it all became too much.  
She felt him cum hard, the hand on her hip dropping so that he could finish her off with his fingers and Claire felt her toes curl at the deep orgasm that rocked everything in her being. There had never been any other lover that could do that for her and she knew that she would do whatever it took to make sure this latest scheme turned out just how he wanted it. Frank was breathless, it had made his own orgasm feel never ending when she came like that and he allowed it all to wash over him before finally letting her go and dropping back deeper into the hot water to catch his breath and warm up. Claire grabbed the bottle again and poured more vodka, passing him a glass before settling into the crook of his arm and enjoying the steaming bubbles buffeting sensitive skin.  
“You and retiring ain’t gonna happen Frankie.”  
He grinned and kissed her forehead.  
“No but it’s a nice thought.”


	15. Chapter 15

The boys were on the prowl.  
They had been sat outside one of Mandini’s clubs for more than an hour just watching and waiting, the sky around them lit by a fire to the west that was one of Cesaro’s places burning. Frank was waging all out war on everyone around him and loving every minute of it. The new President was floundering, his anti corruption ticket now hollow as the city burned around him and gang warfare seemed to be breaking out on both sides of the country. All thanks to a little encouragement from one Frank Iero.  
Since they had come home things had been stepped up, Lily was now working for the Feds as a cleaner and mapping out every inch of the building that Frank wanted her to bug, the new weapons shipments were in and their friendly Irishman was making money from both the enemies turf. Mikey and Gee loved it, seeing in their friend the teenager who had taken everything by brute force and seemed intent on doing it again.  
Which is why they were now outside the club in semi disguise and holding baseball bats. All were also packing guns but Frank had been yearning for blood and now Mikey had suggested they go get some, it was just a matter of waiting for the right moment to strike.  
Gee had given them the other reason for this, his spies in all camps had suggested that three of Mandini’s captains were holding a war conference and it seemed rude not to interfere. Frank checked his watch again and then read another message from his wife before waving his phone at Gee.  
“Claire and Lily are holding a party. We may be on clean up duty.”  
Mikey snorted.  
“Yup, I ain’t helping you with that either.”  
“C’mon bro, you know you like it when they attack you…”  
Mikey remained poker faced before winking and elbowing Gee.  
“Sure but first we have a little fun of our own.”  
Frank smirked, fixing Gee with a smile.  
“Seriously though, are you and Lily like a thing now?”  
Gerard considered, unsure of whether answering truthfully was worth the inevitable ribbing and kissy faces that his lover and brother were bound to throw his way. He sat back, balancing the bat on his knees.  
“I think so, I really like her.”  
Frank nodded, catching the surprise in Mikey’s eyes.  
“Just be careful. I have a feeling there is more going on there than she’s letting on. My guys have been doing some digging and a thief ain’t all she is.”  
Two sets of eyes turned towards Frank, his face composed.  
“What do you mean?”  
Frank turned back, fixing both his boys with a stare.  
“She had to leave Mexico in a hurry, that part is true but she was doing more than thieving. Source I got says Lily was running guns, drugs and just about everything else while using one of the Mexicans as a cover. What happened to blow that gig I don’t know but it means she’s capable of killing.”  
Mikey nodded slowly.  
“Makes sense not to show your cards.”  
Gerard sat back, not fussed particularly about this information but calculating uses for it. He knew Frank was waiting for his reaction and turned on the smile that he knew Frankie loved.  
“Not taking a gun to bed then. What are you going to do with this?”  
“Nothing for now, lets see how the Feds thing goes. Just watch your back.”  
Gerard nodded as Mikey tapped his watch.  
“Time to go.”  
The three men pulled up hoods and balaclavas, unrecognisable as they headed across the street and into the back alley behind the bar. The place would be closing although patrons were still inside, weekday liquor licences meaning midnight was the latest they could be open on weekdays and Mikey knew there would only be a couple of guards in their path. The alley was dark and smelled of piss and hash, somehow as comforting as the neon up above. The police sirens in the distance were fading although the night was punctuated with gunshots and it made Frank glad that his women were home and safe. A sexist thought for sure given the two women he was thinking of but somehow it popped into his head anyway.  
The two teenage guards never really saw what hit them, the chance to be made men escaping in several skull fractures as the black clad figures downed them with precision blows. Mikey had learned young that being quick and quiet was just as important as packing the correct firepower, pausing only to allow Gerard to strip the steaming corpses of weapons and ammo before using his bat to take out the weak lock on the back door.  
Surprise was always useful, Frank was across the room in four strides and laid one man out as the brother aimed for the other two. Within seconds silence ruled again as the pounding music from the bar helping to deaden the noise as three unconscious men lay on the floor and the fourth tried to figure out what the fuck just happened.  
Mikey didn’t wait, grabbing the man in a armlock tight around his throat as Gerard set to looking around the room for anything useful and finding something that he knew would bring out the worst in his boss. Without a word he crossed to where Frank stood in front of the wheezing man and placed two photos into his hands. Frank stiffened, rage starting to burn behind his brain.  
“What the fuck is this?”  
Mikey let go a fraction, racking coughs going through the man until he could speak  
“What’s it look like? Gonna take that fuck’s wife and fillet her.”  
A low growl emanated from Gerard as Mikey stared into his friends eyes, almost turned on by the absolute hate in them. Mikey always liked it best when his friends gave in to the darker side that burned in all of them, the absolute honesty of it was pure and that Frank had come back to him in this way was making Mikey happier than he had been in months.  
“This little war is business. You don’t bring a man’s wife into a business argument unless you want to die.”  
The man raised himself up, he was a tough bruiser who had worked his way up the ranks and had the scars to prove it as well as missing one ear. Whoever these punks were they clearly had been raised in the old stupid ways that still prized loyalty and manners. Jennings had no time for it and shook ratty grey hair out of his eyes, attempting to sneer at the black clad figures.  
“Fuck that, there are no rules you snot nosed little bitch.”  
The movement was incredibly fluid as Mikey released the man’s throat and grabbed one arm, twisting it expertly until the bone snapped with a crack that seemed to reverberate around the room. His hand was swiftly back around the man’s mouth to stifle the screams as Frank pulled down the bandanna and stared at the creature.  
“I’m going to let you live. You tell your boss that.”  
The man was gibbering now, he had only seen Frank Iero in photographs and had never expected to come face to face with the man. Now his words of only a few seconds before seemed hang in the air His boss had been furious about the losses and the war now forced on him. He hadn’t had any evidence that Iero was behind it, just a gut hatred and so had aimed Jennings and his men at the one known weak spot in a pre-emptive strike. Now it seemed to the weeping man that something so simple would kill them all.  
“Mikey…”  
The tall man drew his gun, letting the terrified man watch him screw in the silencer before cleanly putting a bullet through his knee. This time they didn’t bother to muffle the screams, the door opening as the confused barman poked his head around to see what the noise was all about. He was ended by Gerard’s bullet, the brothers calmly walking out into the empty bar to take down the remaining soldiers. There was hardly any sound as Frank stared down at the bleeding man.  
He didn’t speak again, his rage spent in using the bat on the three unconscious men until bone and brain matter stained the walls, floor and Jennings. It helped, Frank could feel the anger dying down as he panted and wiped blood from his face. The fact that Mandini would even think of going after Claire was enough to make him determined to not only ruin the man but burn him alive on a pyre of his own making and finally it seemed he was no longer bored. He glanced back, seeing the man trying to crawl away, walking across to stamp on the bleeding knee. The man screeched as he stared up at Frank.  
“Also tell him he’s going to die. But not for a while and not easy. If I get any indication that you shits come near my family I will burn yours alive.”  
Gerard and Mikey came back into the room and admired the bosses handiwork, Frank still staring at the wounded man who now looked as though he would much prefer to be dead. Mikey had fired the place, flames starting to lick towards the back room as they left and Jennings dragged himself outside to call for help and pray for mercy.  
It was just another fire to add to the conflagration as Frank called his wife and told her to lock down the compound until they got home and Mikey called the foreman at the factories to bring out the heavy equipment to the house. Gerard listened to it all, his own message to Lily brief but to the point.  
“Sit tight baby. It all just got real.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So beloved readers, do we think one Mikey Way needs a new love interest??


	16. Chapter 16

Lily hummed to herself and dragged the bucket into an alcove in the darkened room.  
It had taken a month of working nights cleaning up after assholes until she was confident she knew her way around the place in the dark and just about where all the important rooms were. Of course a lowly cleaner didn’t get into the real sensitive places but that was nothing a stolen coding card and some well placed lock-picking wouldn’t cure.  
She checked her phone, smirking at a rude text from Gee, a barked instruction text from Mikey and Claire’s latest business suggestion. Frank had reacted badly to the other Family even thinking about going after her friend and placed the girls in an almost protective cocoon. It amused Lily but annoyed Claire and now the girls were considering a business adventure of their own. Frank knew they were plotting something and also knew not to push his luck by trying to stop them as long as it didn’t interfere with the current operation.  
So Lily had stepped it up and was now ready to plant the bug and commence the show. Routine played a big part in the mundane if necessary job she had used as cover. None of her co-workers knew that the accent, red wig and blue contacts were a disguise, none of them had worked out that she timed them, the two supervisors and all eight security guards. Camera positions and alarmed areas were also noted but those would be easy to avoid.  
The listening device that Frank had obtained was powerful enough that one optimum position would grant them access to whatever verbal and text conversations went on in three floors of the building and as he and Mikey were only interested in the one department that covered mob operation and reporting to he oval office it really only needed the one bug. Gerard had done the research along with the knowledge all of them had gained during Ray’s presidency. If they listened hard enough and interpreted well enough then it would be simple to know the moment to strike to cause enough damage.  
Lily set the stopwatch option on her smart watch for four minutes as the supervisor went past, a thrill of adrenaline going up her back. There was nothing better than this part, in truth stealing information was as much luck as it was skill but in this case she felt justified in some satisfaction. Lily loathed governments, any organisation that thought to control her actually which caused a wry smile. Falling for a mobster was almost as bad in some ways and she knew, knew deep in her blood, that it was going to end up in a clusterfuck but sometimes you just had to know that and do it anyway.  
With a single glance over her shoulder she noted the camera had turned away and swiped the stolen card through the reader. It took ten seconds to get in, the lockpick used on a filing cabinet in the east facing corner consuming another minute and a half. Lily slid the bug in, another alarm on her watch bleeping a confirmation that it was working as she quietly shut the drawer and locked it again. She was back across the room and out as the camera turned back and with still more than thirty seconds before the supervisor walked back again.  
He nodded to her absently, his eyes wandering to her cleavage as Lily resumed the mopping. She didn’t flinch, a part of her wondering if she could get Gee to blow his head off at some point before the man moved on and she move the bucket back into the corridor. It would be another hour before her shift ended and Lily had told Mikey that it would be better if she worked out the week before handing her notice in so that if the bug was discovered it wouldn’t immediately become obvious that she had been involved.  
“Hey baby, its done. Come get me.”  
Gee giggled down the line, he had been stalking the compound all night to Mikey’s amusement. The two had been down in Frank’s shooting range, the competition between them light hearted even when Claire had bet them that if either dropped a shot from dead centre it would mean streaking across to Frank’s office naked. To her annoyance the brothers were on form and now all three were sitting by the pool, clad in warm clothes and drinking a beer.  
“I’m on it.”  
Mikey handed him his colt and Gee quickly found the Trans-Am and set off across town. It was nearly midnight and the streets were empty, he turned the music up and hummed along, enjoying the roar of the engine and being free for a while. He was happy, the plan going well and at peace with falling in love with Lily once Mikey had been accepting of it which had amused Frank and the lady in question. There had been a stilted awkward conversation until she had told him bluntly that there with things Mikey and Frank could do for Gee that she could not and she didn’t expect him to give that up. She had kissed his surprised grin and now he fervently hoped that the danger to come wouldn’t interfere with that.  
He sped across the intersection and passed the federal building, Lily always made sure to walk a few blocks away so that the cameras wouldn’t pick up who was picking her up. Now he could spot her on the street ahead, the wind whipping his hair into his eyes as he screeched across the street and pulled up alongside. She smiled at him, the guy always looked devastating and tonight well….leather just suited the damn man.  
“Hey sexy, wanna ride.”  
“I don’t know, you could be a dodgy character.”  
Gerard smirked, leaning across to open the door.  
“It’s what you love about me.”  
She slid into the seat and leant across, capturing his lips in a long kiss.  
“That among other things. We did it Gee, we bugged the bastards.”  
“Frank has already got someone listening so lets see what we dig up.”  
They pulled away from the curb and he turned the car onto the next street along. It was still early considering they had slept away a lot of the day and now Gee fancied a drink and alone time with his girl before they went back home. He too had received the be fucking careful lecture and wouldn’t risk going anywhere too public when most of the city wanted his blood.  
“Fancy a drink?”  
Lily nodded, the adrenaline was wearing off and she didn’t want to sleep just yet. It was nice to be away from the compound for a while and just watching the city go by from the roaring muscle car was a rush. Her hand was creeping up his thigh as she rested her head against his shoulder.  
“Sounds like a plan, do you know somewhere that’s still open?”  
“Baby, for me several placed will reopen.”  
Gee smirked at the giggle and the kisses up his neck as he headed the car out towards the Black Cat, a club that he and Mikey ran on the north side of town. Several women and some pretty men would no doubt be looking for his brother, it was hard to refuse Mikey Way when he wanted you as Gerard knew better than most. That was part of the fun and the thought that there were comfortable private rooms where he and Lily could play a while.  
“Mikes wants to go over the next stage tomorrow, he’s hoping to persuade you and Claire to skip town for a while.”  
Lily looked up at him, her voice surprised.  
“Why?”  
“Frank wants you guys safely out of town before the Feds really land on the war.”  
He paused, his hazel eyes now serious as he gazed at her.  
“Consider it. For me.”  
Lily bit her lip, the idea of being banished like a fainting damsel pissed her off but the idea of her and Claire having some space to start their own fun was an interesting thought.  
“I’ll think about it but Claire might punch Frank in the balls.”  
Gerard chuckled.  
“I wouldn’t mind watching that again but don’t be mad at them. We lost a lot when things went bad last time. Neither of them can go through that again.”  
“What about you?”  
The Black Cat sign was dark and Gerard pulled into the deserted car park, turning off the car engine before turning to Lily. His fingers stroked down her cheekbone, his voice quiet.  
“I’m worse than both of them. The bullet makes me crazy when I think of even going through that again. I did things I’m not proud of Lily, I really did. So please…just think about it.”  
She nodded soberly, the kiss between them now long and gentle before he smiled at her and opened the car door. Lily stuffed the remaining disguise in the bag with her cleaners uniform and opened the other door, stepping out into darkness. It was cold and she shivered, the second sense for trouble kicking in a fraction of a second too late. A shriek was ripped from her as a hand slammed her head into the edge of the car roof, Lily’s vision exploding into stars so badly that she didn’t see how many men there were just that at least two black clad figures were now standing over her.  
Lily tried to crawl away, frantically looking for Gee before her heart sank at the sight of a crumpled figure laying on the hard tarmac.  
“You fucking bastards!”  
Strong hands picked her up, the pain in her head intensifying as Lily realised she was bleeding and being dragged around the car. She could see Gee better now, the man who had tasered him clad in all black as the others were. She struggled, wanting badly to reach down and cradle her lover before almost spitting at the three men.  
“He fucking promised me Gee wouldn’t be harmed. He FUCKING PROMISED.”  
The men didn’t flinch, now dragging Gerard across the car park of the empty club to where another vehicle was parked. It was a black unmarked van and she growled, pulling against the tight grip on her arm.  
“Shut up and get in the van.”  
“If I go with you they will know it’s a plant.”  
The man paused, staring at the bleeding woman in front of him.  
“He said you were to come back with us.”  
Lily shook her head again, looking at the blood on her fingers.  
“I changed the plan just like he did. I’m going to call it in to his brother but you better hope Gerard remains unharmed or tell that bitch I will kill him myself.”  
The man nodded, the two other loading Gerard’s unconscious body into the van as Lily turned on her heel and walked away, her hand already reaching into her pocket for the phone.  
The plane to Clusterfuck had just landed.


	17. Chapter 17

“I’m going to kill you. If my brother is harmed, you’re gonna wish I’d killed you right now.”  
Lily squirmed frantically, her feet barely on the floor as Mikey had both hands around her throat and seemed intent on carrying out his threat. Claire had dived out of Mikey’s reach when Lily had been trying to explain, it was clear what was about to happen and the only person capable of talking Mikey down when he was in a rage was Frank. The boss had been downtown when Lily had called to say Gee had been taken so had dropped everything to come back to the compound, his car pulling in ten minutes after Lily had admitted to Mikey that she knew who had taken him. The younger Way had of course taken this to mean betrayal and now it was possible that his temper would get the better of him.  
“Mikey….please…”  
He shook Lily hard, his expression so blank that it scared her more than his anger.  
“Who took him? Where are they?”  
Lily was fading out of consciousness, only realising that Frank was in the room as Mikey’s grip relaxed. Claire caught her, lowering them both to the floor as her husband confronted his friend. Mikey knew he should listen but the mere thought of someone holding Gee captive was enough to make his hold on reason tenuous at best. Frank stared at him, his voice calm but firm.  
“Calm down. Gee’s smart enough to stay alive till we can get to him but we need to know what the fuck we’re up against.”  
There was a pause, Mikey fighting himself before nodding and taking a step back. Frank smiled reassuringly at his wife and helped her lift Lily into the nearest chair before pouring everyone a whiskey. When he turned back Lily felt another shiver of fear go down her back. He looked every bit was blankly terrifying as Mikey and even Claire seemed guarded and hostile.  
“Well?”  
Lily rubbed her throat, her voice quiet.  
“Tom has him.”  
“Your boyfriend? The boxer? Why the fuck would he want to kidnap Gerard?”  
Mikey glowered, only calmed from grabbing Lily again by Claire’s arm on his shoulder. Frank’s office had seemed to close in on them all as dawn started to blush the sky outside.  
“Who does he work for? Feds or one of the families?”  
Lily’s smile was bitter, the fear almost overwhelmed by amusement that they should think it was anything as simple as one of their own enemies. She too was concerned for Gerard, the fact that she loved him seemed to have totally been missed by the three people in the room with her and it made her voice both tired and irritated.  
“Don’t be stupid. Tom is my handler, he works for MI6.”  
Claire stared, unable to quite take in what her friend had said.  
“MI fucking 6? He works for British Intelligence? What the fuck.”  
Frank and Mikey exchanged a look, this curve ball was not at all what they had expected and now both looked to Claire to explain the implications. Lily watched as they conferred, still not quite sure how this would go and wondering if they understood what was now in play.  
“So you’re saying basically the Brits version of the CIA?”  
Claire nodded slowly and turned back to Lily.  
“You work for them too?”  
“No, not by choice. I owe them and believe me, once you owe them you may as well kiss your freedom goodbye.”  
Frank settled himself on the edge of the desk and slugged the whiskey. He hated curveballs and this was a large one. Mikey was pacing again, a new player in the game bothered him almost as much as it did Frank although knowing that it wasn’t a family like theirs was almost a relief as his brother was less likely to be returned to him one bloody chunk at a time. Frank leant forward and raised Lily’s chin so she could look him in the eye.  
“Start at the beginning and do not lie to me.”  
Lily sighed, the story wasn’t exactly what they would want to hear.  
“I told you I owed money to the Mexican mob. It was more complicated than that, a long con that turned into more money and trouble than I could ever have thought. I ended up running a cartel using the guy I was sleeping with as a front. I was running guns, drugs…fucking everything and making more money than I thought possible.”  
A smile crossed her face at the thought causing a growl from Mikey.  
“Problem is I got complacent and stupid. Didn’t see it coming but it ended in the Mexican government cracking down and wiping everything out, killing everyone around me until I wind up in a jail looking down the barrel of a firing squad. The British Consulate sent Tom in with a promise of freedom….if I worked for them.”  
Frank rubbed the back of his head.  
“So Moscow was a job for them?”  
Lily nodded, something dead in her tone.  
“Most every job I have done since has been for them. You have to understand, they only officially started to exist in the nineties, MI6 are capable of walking into any country in the world and doing whatever the fuck they want without people even knowing they are there. Torture, kidnapping, murder is all in a days work.”  
Mikey’s gun was in his hand and he was across the room before Frank considered intervening. Lily found herself back against the wall, his face almost sensually against hers as he held the gun under her chin.  
“So what do they want with Gee?”  
Lily swallowed hard, her eyes connecting with Claire’s.  
“It was always in the back of their minds you might contact me given my skillset and yours. Hell, they probably knew Ray was President because of you long before anyone else did. Whatever they want from Gee it won’t involve hurting him, they probably want to offer you a deal of some kind.”  
Frank couldn’t help but smile at that possibility.  
“A deal with us? Thought they would be on the Feds side.”  
Mikey enjoyed Lily’s fear, almost turned on by it as Claire retreated to Frank and tried to work out what the British government could want with the American mob. It sounded all too dangerous and her mind was drawn back to everything that had already had to fight through.  
“They don’t trust your government any more than you do.”  
“You still handed Gerard over like a lamb to the slaughter.”  
Lily pushed Mikey away, her eyes blazing.  
“They did that because I refused to trick him into a meeting. They were hardly going to speak with Mr Sane here and Frank, you were too hard to get to. Gerard is smart and can at least be relied upon to be reasonable.”  
Frank smirked as Mikey giggled at the last statement.  
“Gerard got shot in the head, you ain’t seen his dark side and reasonable it really isn’t. He was married once you know, did he tell you that?”  
Lily shook her head nervously as Frank continued.  
“Nancy liked it all the time Gee was a politician, fancied the whole first lady thing. When he got shot and didn’t quite recover his sanity she cheated on him. Bad move as we never found all the body parts. Not sure what he will do to you.”  
Claire slapped the back of her husband’s head before turning to her friend.  
“Why did you refuse to trick him?”  
Lily folded her arms somewhat exasperated and now wondering just what Tom would try to talk Gee into and what he would tell him about her own role in the whole thing. She had thought it would be a routine thing but everything had changed and now she realised she had probably switched sides without even realising it. Didn’t help the new side was two inches away from shooting her.  
“Because I love him. I came here to tell you the truth when I could have gone with them and Tom would have had me out of state before you even knew Gee was gone. Or I could have run. As it is now you don’t trust me and Tom will probably rake up all the charges on my rap sheet and have me either jailed or killed.”  
There was a moment of silence before Frank nodded slowly.  
“So what do we do?”  
Mikey ran a hand through his hair.  
“Get the captains out looking for him and hope Lily is right and they let him go.”  
“And if they don’t?”  
All eyes turned towards Lily as Frank smiled.  
“We go to war. I don’t give a shit who these people think they are but nobody fucks with me and lives. These fucks ain’t the only ones who kill for a living.”  
Claire tried not to smirk, her husband was obviously relishing the challenge and yet somehow she believed that Lily really did love Gee. Not many people would want to walk back into the lion’s den and face down the men in her life. She crossed to Lily and hugged her, turning back to Frank as Mikey picked up the phone to call the foot soldiers into action.  
“We should try and contact Tom don’t you think?”  
Frank nodded, noting that the women were presenting a united front.  
“Try it. I want reassurances that Gee is ok before even thinking of listening to what they have to say.”  
“I’ll call him, he may pick up but sometimes its radio silence.”  
Mikey kissed Claire quickly, leaving them to it as he went back down to the kitchen. He needed to do something, his mind still burning with a desire to break someone’s face. That thought was tempered by the knowledge that if his brother was threatened and went into attack mode then MI6 would find out that behind that pretty face lay a demon unlike anything most people wanted to see. A beautiful smile crossed his face as Frank came down to meet him, gun in hand.  
“You think Gee will cooperate?”  
“Nope…”  
The captains stepped back, their leaders heading out into the morning to take on this latest threat to their power. It was advisable not to say a word, just stand back and admire the Don and his most loyal General as they went out to find out just what havoc the third part of their brotherhood had unleashed.


	18. Chapter 18

Gerard came round slowly.  
His body ached, aware instantly that his hands were cuffed behind him to the chair he sat in, A heavy bag was over his head, the material rough against his face as he tried to moderate his breathing. The worst pain was in his head, the right side where the bullet had hit was keening and throbbing which made his mouth dry and it was all he could do to keep the focus required to concentrate and listen.  
Mikey had taught him many lessons when Gee had first admitted the change in his personality that had turned a sweet and very submissive boy into a frequently tortured and complicated man. The first of those lessons had been to keep calm no matter what, even if the situation was desperate there was always something that could be learned from listening and watching.  
Gee shut his eyes and concentrated, breathing deeply to move a little of the pain. There were at least three other people in the room, he could hear them moving around but no other voices. He wondered where Lily was, the screaming had been the last thing he had heard and now he could feel the rage starting around the pain in the head. If his captors were from one of the other families then anything could be happening to his girlfriend or she could already be dead. His hands clenched in the cuffs as a voice spoke somewhere in front of him.  
“Take it off, he’s not going anywhere.”  
Gerard froze, he knew that voice and now a whole new set of dangers were opening up. The harsh light made him wince as the bag was pulled away and he looked up, focusing on the desk and the man behind it. There was no sign of the boxer about Tom now, he wore a dark suit and sober tie which Gerard’s practised eye assessed to be tailor made and extremely expensive. They regarded each other in silence for a moment.  
For his part Tom was trying to reconcile the smartly dressed smiling politician with the street punk in front of him. Their brief meeting before had kicked off some research but the chameleonic and yet beautiful man in front of him was not what he had expected. There had been something missing that had only recently been pieced together out of sheer coincidence and now Tom was even more intrigued and had made the decision that out of the brothers it was this one that was worth dealing with.  
“Where’s Lily?”  
Tom tapped his pen on the notebook in front of him.  
“Good question actually, I expected her back here but it seems she has skipped out on both of us.”  
Gerard nodded slowly, not liking the implication but currently more interested in just what this was about. The Feds he could have understood, the other families even more so but this was new and he didn’t like new. It made the pain in his head worse and he literally had to squint to focus.  
“Let’s cut the crap. Who do you work for?”

“Secret Intelligence Services of Her Majesty’s government. MI6 to you.”  
Gerard giggled.  
“The UK government right? Heard a lot about you guys when I was a politician and all of it was shady as fuck.”  
“I can’t deny that, we both work for organisations that are not fully legitimate.”  
Tom reached into the drawer and pulled out a fine bottle of whiskey and two glasses. He motioned to the three suited men that lurked in corners of the room. Gerard knew that wherever he was it was at least partially underground as there were no windows in the wood panelled room. The men were all well built and clearly packing. Gerard couldn’t see his jacket and had only been carrying a pistol originally so there was no doubt he was outgunned. A disadvantage yes but not impossible when your baby brother had taught you to kill with your bare hands. Tom poured two full shots.  
“Let him out of the cuffs and wait outside.”  
Gerard kept still, a smile lifting his face as the goon obeyed his boss. He watched them file out of the room before standing and rubbing his wrists. Tom waited patiently, looking at Gerard now he could see the lean but muscled frame and something in the hazel eyes that hinted of danger. The files on the Iero crime family were interesting. There had never been any evidence, nothing despite killings dating back years, kidnappings including the recent one of Iero’s wife that had led to accusations of involvement in the death of a President. Yet none of it stuck, sensational headlines and warrants that went nowhere. Tom knew the FBI hated that they couldn’t get close enough to pounce, hell even he was frustrated at how good these guys were but it was a frustration he could use.  
“So, I expect you want to know why I brought you here.”  
Gee sipped the whiskey, relaxing into the chair.  
“I’m guessing you don’t want me dead or to hand me to the Feds so that just leaves you either pissed at me for stealing your woman or a deal on the table.”  
“Lily is a tool to me nothing more. Someone with that skillset is very useful to me and I own the bitch seeing as I saved her neck in Mexico.”  
Gerard was now in business mode, it made pushing the insanity away a little easier and he filed away his feelings on his lover for later. He wasn’t sure if Lily had betrayed him or had at least at best been economical with the truth but it could wait. Making an enemy of another country was something his family could not afford and yet an ally of this nature would be formidable.  
“So Mikey was right in that she was hiding something.”  
Tom nodded, enjoying the smooth malt.  
“She’s a very talented girl as is your brother in his field. Your boss is something else, never seen anyone manage to put a man in office and then survive his fall while still supplying most of the western world with arms. His legitimate businesses must make more money than the mob activities.”  
“Mr Iero is a legitimate businessman.”  
Tom caught Gerard’s smile and returned it.  
“Sure he is. That doesn’t bother me and neither does your little territory war.”  
“So?”  
Tom leant forward, Gee could now see the powerful 9mm pistol under his arm and made sure to keep his eyes from it. There was little else around the room that could be used as a weapon but it seemed that he would be let out at the end of all this if Frank was to hear about whatever it was Tom wanted. Therefore violence right now would not be necessary although Gee had already decided that he was going to dissect the young man slowly at some point whatever happened.  
“We have a mutual….enemy. The new President is proving a liability to the international community and is obviously gunning for your family and the other centres of organised crime. From what I understand Frank is also a target as he supplies arms to most of the armed forces and the President wants to change that.”  
Gerard nodded, the last was the most worrying and he would have to tell Frank to look for trouble in that direction which so far had not shown itself.”  
“What would you want us to do about it? The family pulled away from politics after Ray died and I don’t think Frank would be interested in putting up a candidate again.”  
“Not even you? I mean it would be the comeback of the century and with our combined resources its possible.”  
Gerard giggled, running a hand through his hair.  
“Look at me, I’m no longer the man I was and I no longer want that.”  
“I can understand that and the rumours are you’re as violent as that brother of yours.”  
Gerard couldn’t resist the smirk that crossed his features.  
“So many rumours about us and all of them are just that, myths and half truths. My brother is not a violent man by nature and I am no killer."  
Tom could see the polished act and appreciated it. There was no lie in his statement, there were many around Washington who had privately wondered if Gerard Way could be persuaded to run again. The establishment did not like having a wild card in office anymore than Tom’s people did and seemed to be prepared to do a deal with a literal devil.  
“A neutral party then who would do business for all of us and settle things down. The world is unstable and that’s bad for all of us. Will you talk to Frank and see if he is interested in regime change?”  
“I will talk to him but I am merely an advisor, the final decision will be Frank’s.”  
Tom nodded, trying to choose his words carefully.  
“Does that bother you? You’re a smart man, you are something of an enigma to even the other families. I wondered if power was something you desired for yourself.”  
Gerard giggled, the smile making him look younger and almost innocent.  
“I merely want what’s best for my family.”  
Tom looked him dead in the eyes and for a moment something dark passed across Gerard’s face that almost inspired a flicker of fear in the big man. His mind was instantly brought back to the pictures he had seen of mangled bodies and a terrified conversation he had heard taped from a dying woman.  
“Best for your family. You seem capable of a lot more from what I heard and its that which makes you interesting.”  
The other man didn’t break eye contact.  
“And what is it that you heard?”  
Tom’s fingers tapped on the wood, the pause growing as the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees. Gerard was instantly on guard, he had a bad feeling that something was coming and kept his face level as Tom pushed a photo across the desk  
“That you arranged and orchestrated one of the most incredible assassination plots of all time and before you deny it I got it from the source. Gates and Angel are both dead so your secret goes no further.”  
Gee stared at the picture, his brother looking at the camera with a wry smile. The figure next to him was young and not smiling, a handsome mixed race boy who’s head rested against Mikey’s. Tom watched the blank faced reaction and smiled slowly, his last question hanging in the air.  
“I understand you taking out Toro but why did you kill James?”


	19. Chapter 19

Frank was brooding.  
Winter sunshine warmed the early afternoon air but it was still quite frigid and Frank was wrapped in a leather jacket and hoody as he sat out on the balcony of his bedroom. He and Mikey had returned from the factories where they had been briefing the captains on the next direction against Mandini when a phone call had proved to them both that Lily had actually been truthful.  
Gerard had sounded tired but promised he was fine and that indeed it was Tom who had picked him up and was offering them a deal in exchange for help in their current wars against the administration. Mikey had been dispatched immediately to pick him up after locking Lily in Gee’s room and now Frank had come to think out his options.  
A war on his own boredom was one thing.  
Getting involved with a foreign secret service was quite another.  
He smirked to himself and ran the options through his mind. The plan to divert attention while he took control of the South American drug trade could still happen, indeed might be easier with a helping hand from a sovereign power. It was what they wanted in return that bothered him and would need careful consideration. If the Feds or the administration got wind that Frank was selling out his own government then any charges would basically amount to treason….but then he had been taking a swipe at the government on his own and he had a feeling that sooner or later that would cause trouble with his arms contracts. With a frustrated sigh he lit another cigarette.  
“Thought you quit my love.”  
Frank smiled as Claire wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed his neck.  
“Gee getting kidnapped fucks my head up.”  
“He’s fine though isn’t he?”  
Frank nodded, pulling Claire into his lap with a sigh.  
“Sounds like it but damn, what did I get us into?”  
She frowned, it wasn’t like Frank to doubt himself and she knew this was one conversation he would never have with the boys. There was a searing level of honesty in their relationship that had strengthened since she had been taken from him the last time and although Claire had known that this new adventure was more of a reaction to that than anything else she was determined to help him do just what he intended and take on the world.  
“Bringing Lily in was my call, I had no idea about MI6.”  
She kissed his smile, the first moan drawn from both of them as her fingers curled into his hair. Moments of peace were rare and both knew to grab them when they happened. He buried his face in her neck and enjoyed her body wrapped around his,  
“Opportunity could be calling but the risk here is huge. We have no guarantees that Tom is on the level or that whatever he’s offering won’t just sell us out to the Feds. We are in a turf war we can’t afford to lose and I just don’t know.”  
“We need to hear what the deal is first.”  
Claire was already thinking ahead. Lily had explained more about how MI6 worked when it came to interfering with other countries. Her friend had been instrumental in leaking Russian secrets, infiltrating Eastern European drug rings and that was just for starters. She knew that whatever deal was coming may well be enticing enough to make the boys want in but Lily had been very clear that it was doing a deal with a whole new level of devil. Both had seen the appeal and she was convinced that her friend did love Gee although quite what his reaction would be when he got home was another thing.  
“Come on, you’re frozen.”  
Frank let Claire pull him up, the heated kisses taking them back inside to the warmth of their room. The en-suite shower was inviting and he loved that she took charge of him, stripping him of in an efficient and enticing manner until he was naked and virtually panting as she turned the water on. More hot kisses were exchanged, hands wandering as she made sure that he forgot every worry and care that existed outside.  
“Promise me you’ll stay safe.”  
Claire smiled, her lips working their way down the scorpion tattooed on Frank’s neck.  
“Always, promise me you won’t get carried away.”  
He giggled, the groan breaking out as she followed the heated water down his chest, past his hip and lower. His head dropped back under the spray, nothing in his head now but the feeling of her mouth around his cock and his hand in her hair. It was smooth and unhurried, his knees going weak as Claire made sure to taste every inch of him until Frank had to pull her up and into his arms.  
“C’mon, two countries to fuck with is my dream.”  
“Fuck you Iero.”  
“Well yes please.”  
Claire gasped as his hands went under her ass and he almost flung her against the shower wall. She loved it when he got rough, wrapping her legs around his hips and kissing his face as he took her. Frank was lost in his Claire, the fears he had now extinguished in knowing that no matter what went down she loved him and would have his back. He was addicted to his woman, making love to her always took his breath away and he bit his lips as her breathy cries hit new heights.  
Neither noticed the time or the house moving around them, too lost in each other to care and it was only after they had both come down from the high and enjoyed soapily washing each other off that Frank could bring himself to leave the shower and find a towel. His phone was on the bedside table, the terse message twenty minutes before said that his boys were in the kitchen. The one ten minutes later said stop fucking and get down here. He grinned.  
“The boys are back.”  
“Go for it, will be down in a bit.”  
Claire continued to dry her hair and watched him leave, texting Lily to say both were home. She knew her friend was pissed at being locked away like Mikey didn’t trust her but Claire knew that it was better that way until all of them could see what kind of mood Gerard had been returned to them in. it had been no word of a lie that an out of control Gee was not what any of them wanted Lily to see just yet.  
The kitchen itself was huge and comfortable, by the time Claire arrived there were huge mugs of hot chocolate and coffee in evidence. Gee did indeed seem fine, calm and almost relaxed, his hug warm and she smiled, kissing him gently.”  
“Are you sure you’re ok?”  
“He got tasered, should see a doctor.”  
Gee smirked at the grumpy concern in his brother’s voice and turned to Frank.  
“I swear I’m ok but we have some serious stuff to discuss here.”  
Frank nodded, all of them sitting around the big oak kitchen table.   
“What did he want?”  
“Our support to oust the President. He basically offered to support me if I want the job.”  
Claire glanced at Frank and Mikey, this was just the insanity she had feared. Frank drummed his fingers on the table.  
“Why would he think we want that beyond wanting the heat of organised crime?”  
Gerard sipped the coffee.  
“Tom has seen evidence that the administration will try and out us from all the military contracts. Army, navy, the lot.”  
“Would make sense Frank.”  
Mikey rolled his eyes, the political side of it still bored the fuck out of him.  
“What the fuck does he want in return? Nothing comes free and putting one of our own in office went real bad last time.”  
Gerard flinched, his eyes meeting Frank’s.  
“Not like the new guy is making friends around the world. I guess the Brits want someone they can do business with.”  
“They could also sell us out real easy….although putting you in office would make that harder.”  
Mikey glared at Frank, the incredulous look on Claire’s face almost mirrored.  
“No. Please tell me you ain’t considering this.”  
“I want to hear more and not without Gee’s consent but I can’t deny it would make our original plan so much easier.”  
Gerard met Frank’s eye and smirked, he knew that look and wondered just what his lover was cooking up in his head. Mikey drained his coffee, not liking the look between them and the thought of being drawn back into everything that had taken James and Ray from them. Claire kept her council, watching Frank carefully as he sat back and looked up at the ceiling.  
“It would need to be played carefully. We can’t trust Tom or his government, any word of this leaks out and it’s a lifetime in jail. We also need to up the war with the other families as politics will take up a lot of our time if we go that way.”  
Mikey shook his head.  
“The plan works without this.”  
Gerard caught his brother’s eye.  
“It does but if we don’t at least look like we’re playing along then the Brits could send the Feds after us anyway.”  
Mikey could see the sense in that, Claire now wondering about their next move. Her hand worked into Frank’s under the table as Gerard placed a mobile phone on the table.   
“We have a way to contact Tom and a deadline of tomorrow night to set up a meeting to either go ahead or walk away. I think we should at least go along a little more and see what the actual deal is here.”  
Frank nodded.  
“What about you and Lily?”  
“Mikey said she came straight back here and fessed up but we need to talk.”  
The ghost of a smile crossed his face and Mikey smirked, clearly that talk might include a little violent fun and he wanted in on that. The whole thing felt too much like walking into a trap for Mikey’s liking and he knew that if Frank and Gee got too caught up in stupid ideas like his brother in the White House it could so easily go bad. He drained the last of the coffee and stood up.  
“I still say this should stay between us.”  
Frank nodded.  
“Duly noted Mikes. I swear we have to all agree before we go forward but I think a meeting at least will work.”  
Claire picked the phone up, a knowing smile causing all the men to grin.  
“Leave Tom to me. I’m sure I can beguile him into meeting on our terms.”  
Frank giggled and poured more coffee into his mug. Something else was bothering him about all this and it involved his boy who had never once shown any interest in going back into politics. He watched Gerard go upstairs and settled back to think, the ultimate player in his own chess game with the world.


	20. Chapter 20

Lily was considering her options.  
Gee’s room was at the opposite end to the guest room she had been staying in and another floor up, a garret room in fact much to her amusement but one that stretched the length of the building and was furnished just as gothic. It was stuffed full of art and comics, her surprise at this expressive side of him just added to the mystery of the man and Lily hoped beyond hope that somehow Gerard would believe her when she told him that her loyalty now lay here.  
That had been the hope, somehow now not so strong since Mikey had nearly strangled her and then locked her up here to wait for his brother. She could see bruises forming rapidly in the mirror and now wondered if escape might be a better bet than she had previously thought. Tom could be an utter bastard no matter how much their relationship had swung between romantic and business, Lily had a horrible feeling he might now have put doubts in Gee’s head that Mikey seemed only too keen to inflate.  
Problem was, three floors up and no visible way down. The drop lead straight onto the patio deck, not even the nearby pool was close enough to break any fall and Lily didn’t think that knotting the bedsheets together was one of her better ideas. Instead she tried to think of what to say to her man, how to make him believe that being mixed up in anything to do with the British Government was the last thing she wanted.  
Finally the door opened and Gee walked in. He looked pale and tired, the bruises from where his head had hit the pavement were dark and painful, his eyes clouded with a growing anger that touched on the madness in his head. He didn’t say a word to her, slipping his jacket off and lighting a cigarette. Lily got up from the bed and crossed to him, her hand gently turning his face to hers.  
“Are you ok? What did he want?”  
Gee noted the concern on her face, his heart skipping a little as he sighed.  
“I’m fine. I’m only going to ask this once and I swear to god I will fucking kill you if you lie to me. Did you sell me and the family out?”  
Lily frantically shook her head.  
“No, I’ve been trying to persuade Tom not to come after you since we met. He wanted a meeting and I refused to trick you into it. I didn’t expect him to do it that way and I came here and told Frank everything as soon as they took you.”  
He paused, both Mikey and Frank had confirmed that to be true but the pain and paranoia just refused to let him believe it. One hand snaked around Lily’s throat and he backed her up towards the window,  
“I love you Lily, I want to believe you.”  
Lily thought again about the drop, not hearing the door open behind her until Gee had backed her into Mikey. The taller man slipped his arms around her waist so she was pinned between the two men. Mikey was amused by the familiar light of madness in his brother’s eyes and noted that the girl was shaking. Clearly she was now getting to see the other side of Gerard and Lily was the first to admit that it unnerved her.  
“I love you too. Tom will come after me now probably more so than you two.”  
Gee giggled, caressing her throat as Mikey winked at him.  
“You guys can love each other all you want but if this deal goes bad then he won’t be the only one.”  
Lily tried to pull away, concern shrieking towards fear.  
“I swear its true!”  
Gerard nodded, kissing her gently but still keeping her between them as Mikey kissed up the back of her neck. Lily wilted, the smallest moan escaping from her at the sensation before she remembered they were basically threatening her. She struggled a little more, Gerard now getting more than a little turned on, his conversation with Tom had woken a little guilt in him about taking his brother’s lover from him and yet wanting to keep his own. He could share, he could even work out a way that Mikey might forgive him given time and necessity. Now he had an amusing idea that would help clear the buzzing in his head.  
“You can prove it to me.”  
Lily stopped struggling, trying to concentrate as Mikey rested his chin on her shoulder.  
“Prove it? How?”  
Mikey met his brother’s eyes, seeing where this was going. Gerard let her go and leant against the wall. He liked looking at her, the flush of fear delicately rose on her skin as Lily tried to figure out what that might entail. He was not her Gee now, the quiet and slightly shy man replaced by the mobster that shone with power and if anything it made her want him more.  
“Have you ever killed a man Lily?”  
“Only in self defence.”  
Lily tried to maintain eye contact, aware even more of Mikey pressed against her as Gerard looked over at her with a beautiful smile. The room was now tense with a mix of sexual desire and danger, it was hard to think straight and Gerard could feel the need to deal out some violence growing. He pulled his jacket from the bed and removed the Baretta, loading it as he spoke.  
“Kill for me and Mikey. Prove your loyalty to the family.”  
Mikey waited, his eyes fixed on Gerard. Lily blinked.  
“K…kill who?”  
“There’s an FBI agent that hangs around. He’s not very good at what he does so we could easily go grab him right now.”  
Gerard watched her go pale, her eyes now doubtful before she pulled away from Mikey and faced down the brothers. Lily had decided her future was here with him and the equally puzzling Mikey so….she straightened her shoulders.  
“If that’s what it takes for you to believe me.”  
Gerard smirked, his glance at Mikey full of humour.  
“We need some fun, ain’t that right bro?”  
Mikey took Lily’s hand and kissed it, prepared to go along with Gee’s bloodlust and intrigued to see if this initiation would actually happen. He had a feeling that again Lily was holding out on them, some simple research was enough to prove that you didn’t hold onto any power in Mexico if you weren’t prepared to be downright brutal and he pondered it as Gee led them down through the house and out to the garage.  
A simple text to Frank about taking care of business downtown was met with an accurate and amused text back liking this test of loyalty that would link Lily forever to the family, Gee liked the boss to know what they were up to and also noted that Mikey suggested that they take his car. That was fun, Mikey kept many interesting things in the trunk and maybe just killing wasn’t enough, maybe they could take things a little further. He pushed Lily into the back seat and they drove in silence down into the town.  
Gerard didn’t need to tell Mikey where to head, a simple text to the Captains meant the unsuspecting man would be quietly picked up from the street and delivered to the desired location. The Feds had gotten sloppy and stretched thin since the turf wars had begun and this one man seemed determined to take unnecessary risks on the enemies turf not knowing that the real enemy lurked unseen.  
“Where are we going?”  
Lily fought down her nerves, this was not what she had expected and considered attempting to text Claire before realising that she neither had her phone or was entirely sure that Claire wouldn’t just say do it. Neither man turned at her question, Gee’s last reply almost making her relax.  
“Warehouse down town, useful for this kind of thing sugar.”  
She nodded, not speaking again as the car took a sharp turn down into shadowed alleyways that led to one of the Iero family’s gun storage lots. The pulled down the ramp into the car park below, hidden from escape or discovery depending on what end of the action you were on. Gerard took Lily’s hand and headed inside, Mikey following behind with a couple of heavy looking bags. The captain inside was dismissed with a grin and the big doors slammed shut.  
Inside was lit only by bare bulbs, the space full of echoes and chill among huge pallet structures that led to a central free space. Gerard smirked, the man tied to the chair was gagged and blindfolded, clearly fighting to stay calm and losing the battle. He let go of his girl’s hand, Mikey again cutting off her escape as Gee considered where to start.  
“What do you think bro?”  
Mikey cocked his head, dropping the bag.  
“We’re gonna need to hear him beg a bit at least.”  
Gerard’s smile was eerie, the agent looking confused at coming face to face with the brothers. He didn’t make the connection for a moment, seeing only the girl looking wary and concerned as Mikey opened up one of the bags.  
“Wrench?”  
“Maybe….or how my favourites?”  
Mikey smiled, his arm back around Lily’s shoulder as he passed his brother the set of brass knuckles from the bag. Back when Gee had first exercised his demons it had been with those and it was still his main weapon of choice. The man had realised the danger now and was wriggling in the chair, his eyes panicked above the gag. Gerard glanced back at Lily, his face almost amused at the way she bit her lip but didn’t turn away.  
“A classic is always a classic.”  
Mikey sniggered at the muffled howl as Gerard slammed his fist into the man’s chin, cleanly breaking his jaw. Blood ran from under the gag, Gerard circling the chair as he considered Mikey’s earlier comment and pulled away the material . The agent gibbered, trying hard to form words as the pain broke over him in waves. Mikey left Lily where she was, crossing the space to kiss Gee and swing the nail studded baseball bat he carried into the man’s knee.  
Lily winced at the howl, watching Gee’s face as the two wolves circled their prey. Every word of Frank’s warning came back to her, the split in his personality obvious and yet she couldn’t deny the sensuality coming off both men in waves. Lily had a weakness for strong men and these two were undeniably magnificent. It took her back to heady days in Mexico where anything had seemed possible and all it took was men with vision and ability to give Lily whatever she wanted. She smiled, looking teasingly at them.  
“I think he’s trying to ask you what you want.”  
Gee lifted the man’s head, blood and tears staining his shirt as he tried to speak. Mikey leant down and grinned at his brother. There was something happening here that appealed to him, the girl didn’t seem worried now at all and in fact seemed to be enjoying it. That clearly made Gerard enjoy it all the more and they theatrically smiled back at her and Gee wiggled the man a little, more broken screams croaking out.  
“What we want….well I really want a coffee and a smoke. Mikes?”  
“You and your girlfriend in my bed. Lily?”  
“To show you what you wanted to see.”  
There was silence, Gerard now painfully turned on as Lily carefully skirted the blood to come closer to the chair. Mikey stepped back, wanting to see how this would go as Gee let the man slump forward and crossed to her, pulling her into his arms. Lily leant into him, his lips meeting hers as he stared into her eyes.  
“Well?”  
Lily reached into his jacket, the loaded Baretta heavy in her hand.  
“I’m yours, my only loyalty is to Frank and the family.”  
The shot when it came was loud, the chair tipping back and dropping the corpse onto the floor. She didn’t hesitate, another slug following the first before she handed the gun back to Gee. The three of them stood together, Lily between Mikey and Gee as they stared at the corpse and the spreading pool of blood. It felt right, the three of them united in blood and carnage. Gerard held her close, a little peace spreading over his mind as Mikey called in the clean up crew and Lily came to terms with the fact that she had just sold her soul all over again.


	21. Chapter 21

Frank and Gerard sat in the car stone faced.  
The conditions of the meeting were not unexpected and they had been amicably arranged with some concessions to the mobsters but it had involved their women and their lover so neither man was smiling, sunglasses shading their eyes as they listened in from a position a block away.  
It was a semi-public deal to appease both sides, a small room above a decent Italian restaurant during a lunch hour. Both sides were allowed one guard each, Mikey the obvious choice to accompany Claire, Lily being added at Tom’s request and the agent had his secretary along with a heavy. Of course the girls and Mikey had been checked for wires but Frank was smarter and had access to more tech than that. The listening devices had passed the pat down easily and now both could listen in to the discussion.  
They had all decided that whatever happened it had to be seen that they were taking the offer seriously and in all honesty, Frank was. He could see this as an opportunity, with some serious risks, but one that could make his operation in South America easier and give him back the power that had been his when Ray had been in office. The difficult part was that only Gee seemed interested in the deal, Mikey and the girls were understandably more cautious.  
“Mrs Iero, such a pleasure to meet you.”  
Tom smiled, sizing up the attractive woman in front of him who returned the smile. Lily was at her shoulder looking a lot more sullen and that amused him. He intended to make her pay for picking the wrong side but that could wait. For now he wanted to size up the other members of the Family and it was now that he got his first proper look at Mikey. Mikey returned the obvious stare with a blank look of his own, both the girls might look business-like in LBD’s but he was still sporting the toned down street look that allowed him to go unnoticed despite his looks and Tom liked the contrast.  
“Likewise, not exactly the meeting I expected given our introductions.”  
Tom smirked, the boxer gimmick always worked well on the ladies.  
“Never trust first appearances but then you know that.”  
“We both hide in plain sight.”  
Claire wasn’t about to give an inch, Frank might like to fly close to the sun but she intended to keep her husband safe and that meant making sure the fuck In front of her didn’t double cross them. Lily was just glad that Mikey was nearby, there was less likelihood of being stuck with a needle and dumped on a plane back to Mexico or worse, Russia. Mikey himself just continued watching as Tom motioned them into comfortable chairs around the large desk.  
“We do and in doing so we can negotiate some changes that will benefit us both. I am surprised your husband isn’t here in person.”  
Claire smiled, Frank would no doubt be listening intently.  
“He had business to attend to, we have some important trade deals going on right now.”  
Tom nodded slowly.  
“Well, did he have any thoughts on the discussion Gerard and I had?”  
“He’s interested at least although taking a friend like that is rude.”  
The man acknowledged that with a nod and a glance at Mikey.  
“I had asked our mutual friend to arrange a meeting, that it had to go down like that is down to her.”  
Lily growled, a finger gesture sent at Tom before a wink from Mikey made her keep her tongue. Claire was not moved, they had all seen the bruises and pain Gee was in after that incident despite his claims to be just fine and the fact that Frank had to arrange to dump a federal agent in the nearest deep body of water.  
“Nevertheless, we are here and I would like to know what the offer is exactly.”  
Tom leant back, his eyes heading towards the ceiling.  
“The British Government desires regime change and we are looking to Frank to help achieve it.”  
Claire blinked, the statement was more blunt than she had expected.  
“What’s in it for us besides having a man in office?”  
“Whatever you do with it is your business bar the fact that we would expect foreign policy to go in our favour and trade deals to be negotiated favourably. Also any military decisions would have to have our input.”  
In the car outside Frank and Gee exchanged a glance. This sounded too good to be true and both knew there had to be more to it than that. Frank drummed his fingers on the wheel and listened as Mikey interceded.  
“You are asking us to sell out the US to you.”  
“Not exactly. Just make it more favourable to us and generally put some balance back. Although your boss might profit from instability, the rest of the world won’t.”  
Lily smirked, Tom could be deceptively noble.  
“Bullshit. You lot profit from war same as everyone. Come on Tom, this is me you’re talking to.”  
Tom looked up at her, the smile on his face acknowledging the fact.  
“Well I can’t say we wouldn’t appreciate a cut in on some of the arms deals and let’s face it, your family is in some danger of losing those.”  
Mikey’s face closed off, the latest news in congress had indeed been aimed at cutting back on some of the contracts with Frank’s companies. Claire smiled, she had a feeling her husband would be glaring right now.  
“The current regime is not good for us no. That doesn’t mean we wouldn’t be taking considerable risks in trying to change it and with no guarantees that you won’t hand us over to them.”  
“Plausible deniability of course. You can’t expect anything less.”  
Lily winced, she had been on the receiving end of that.  
“So you use us and hand us in when it suits?”  
Tom put up a hand.  
“No. We want this deal or none of us would be here.”  
“If we agree to this there has to be some safeguards.”  
Tom nodded, looking towards his secretary. The young man in the suit was fresh out of Oxford and had thought a career in the Foreign Office would be safe and boring. Now he was looking at a crime family and his boss allowing a spy to get the government involved with the overthrow of another. It was terrifying as was being stared at by a handsome blond guy with a gun clearly showing under his jacket. His voice shook a little.  
“We will offer any help you require via a liason. Umm…in exchange we insist that the liason is of our choice.”  
He handed Claire a small memory stick as Tom turned his attention to Lily. Mikey didn’t like the look, despite himself he had feelings for the girl which had only increased since he had been sharing her with his brother. One hand now rested on her shoulder as Lily met her former lover’s gaze.  
“My choice of course is Lily.”  
“Fuck off.”  
Tom laughed, noting that Mikey was almost glaring.  
“Not negotiable. That memory stick contains rendezvous points, a safe box online if needed and a way to contact me. You have 48 hours to decide if this is a go.”  
Claire picked it up and handed it to Mikey. She didn’t like the idea of Lily being the go between any more than her friend did but it was to be expected and she knew Frank had been counting on it. He had gone into his planning mode and that meant that despite all their misgivings it was probably a go.  
“We will contact you whatever our decision.”  
Mikey nodded, his eyes fixed on the kid with the computer. He had his own plans and generally it was an advantage to get people in the other camp so you knew what was going on. He had no intention of letting his brother or his boss get carried away and now he had to consider that both the women in his life were liable to be as guilty of that as well. Irritating but also kinda fun.  
Claire stood up, shaking Tom’s hand with a smile. There was no more talk, Mikey quick to hustle them out of the room and back down into the normal world of lunchtime dining and civil conversation. Lily just wanted as far away from the whole thing as possible, she had found it safe and comforting to be near Frank for some reason and considered now that she had never actually seen the man get angry. Even the night Gee had been taken it had been Mikey that had made the threats, now she wanted to know just how far her new boss would go.  
They exited into the street and around to Mikey’s car in silence. It had been arranged to meet Gee and Frank back at the house and Claire found she wanted badly to be back home before they discussed this any further. It stank of danger and yet even she was intrigued by the ideas and possibilities it might offer. Mikey lit a cigarette and pulled out into traffic, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.  
“Trust him even less after that.”  
Lily relaxed, her head resting back on the seat.  
“He’s playing us, I can’t see it can be as easy as that.”  
“Regime change is surprisingly easy. We put Ray in the White House in less than two years. With this guy I know Frank is reckoning on getting an impeachment a lot quicker than that.”  
Claire giggled, her boy was nothing if not inventive.  
“I thought you kept out of the politics Mikey.”  
He smirked, leaning across to kiss her cheek.  
“Its boring but I listen.”  
“You know he’s going to go for it.”  
All three of them fell silent at the thought, Mikey now grimacing.  
“Its Gee’s idea of getting back into that game that worries me. Nearly killed him the last time.”  
Claire picked up her phone as it rang, her mind still seeing trouble as she realised it was her man on the other end of the line. He sounded cheery and a little smug which just confirmed what they had all been worried about.   
Frank was no longer bored.


	22. Chapter 22

When Claire looked back on it years later she always considered that it was that one weekend that changed things for everyone.   
Frank was determined to go forward, backed up by Gerard and despite his misgivings even Mikey could see the advantages if they could pull this off. It was outside anything they had even attempted before and Frank found that it was probably that one thing that swayed him.  
Frank Iero had made a President.  
Now Frank Iero could pull one down and make another.  
It had been at that point that he had turned to Gerard, all of them sitting around the desk in his office. The huge flatscreen tv showed the news channel and the latest reports of gang war, crisis in the White House and some stocks and shares that Frank was watching most. Profits were down and that pissed him off.  
“Are you sure you want this?”  
Gerard shrugged, a smile lifting his features. He had cut his hair and dyed it white blond much to their surprise, now it was matched with a smart suit and already Frank could see the politician he had been.  
“It makes the most sense. It was what we all originally planned.”  
“Last time it got you shot in the fucking head.”  
Mikey had his arms folded, both Claire and Lily worried about how this confrontation would play out. While Gerard remained submissive to both men in bed, all of them had noticed the growing confidence that the past few years had given him. The first time he had run he had truly been under Frank’s control, now he was his own man and it was that which Frank was relying on.  
“You taught me a lot since I got shot, I’m not naïve anymore.”  
Mikey rolled his eyes.  
“What about our man in opposition?”  
Frank turned off the TV and looked at his family.  
“We use him to apply the pressure in the Senate, we use Lily to find something to pin on both of them and put Gee out there among the political heavyweights. People are already saying his name and we need to have him ready when we drop the bomb that brings on impeachment.”  
Claire smirked, her husband was clearly in his element.  
“Which you are intending to manufacture. What about the gangs?”  
“I am giving that to you and Mikey. Gee and I will handle the politics and Lily is liason to the Brits and feeds us information.”  
Mikey grinned, he liked working with Claire.  
“You’re on. I’m going to bury Mandini first.”  
Only Lily looked uncomfortable. Breaking into an FBI building was one thing but this looked like it was heading towards breaking into places a whole lot worse plus she still had to contend with Tom and whatever bullshit he would try. She glanced at Gee, his hand in hers as Claire laid out a set of schedules on the table.  
“We have a fundraiser for several children’s charities coming up. Representatives from both parties will be there so it’s a good place for Gee to start. Plus we can sniff around the rooms…”  
She winked at Lily who smiled.  
“So I guess I’m looking for whatever political dirt we can dig up.”  
Frank grinned, he loved the idea of fucking with as many people as possible.  
“In the meantime we get Tom’s people to pile on the pressure. Mikes, I may actually need you to dump Mandini’s corpse on someone’s doorstep.”  
“My pleasure.”  
Mikey could see that this operation would take some serious firepower on the street and looked across at his brother. Again the concern surfaced along with the realisation that he would probably have to handle the incoming shipment on his own. Claire had considered that too and now pulled Frank’s laptop around so he could see it.  
“I can come to your meeting with the Chinese if you wish.”  
He nodded, thinking a little further.  
“Gee, are you sure about this? You need to get violent occasionally.”  
Gerard nodded with a smirk, he had thought of that too and was considering how he could keep control and remain as squeaky clean as this job was going to take. Frank watched his reaction carefully as curious as Mikey to see how Gerard would handle that side of himself.  
“I’ll find a way to still enjoy myself. Just have to do it more carefully.”  
Frank blinked, not sure that there was such a way but for now it would have to play itself out. He liked having all his family around the table and ready to make war but the elephant in the room needed to be addressed and he took a deep breath, his arm going around Claire.  
“Look, we are getting into some deep shit here and we need an exit plan if things go bad.”  
Claire glanced at him, a shiver going up her back.  
“Gerard and I would take the fall, its going to be us that the government go after if we get discovered. We transfer as much of the family money abroad before we start so there’s enough for you three to get the fuck out and disappear.”  
Mikey shook his head.  
“You go down, I go down. I’ll get the girls out though.”  
Both the women looked about to argue but Frank stared them down. He felt the old need to protect his own rising and tried to keep his voice light.  
“Its just a failsafe. We do this right and we all get richer and more powerful than ever.”  
“Better be Iero cos I ain’t leaving you.”  
Claire tried not to smile at the derp face he pulled, Gerard noting again that Lily was keeping her own council and looking somewhat terrified. He’d forgotten how normal this tended to be for the rest of them and now ran gentle fingers down her cheek.  
“It’ll be fine.”  
Lily nodded slowly, somehow glad there was an escape plan at all.  
“What about Tom? You know this is a setup to get what he wants and he will doublecross us given the first chance he gets.”  
Mikey smiled, something in it chilling all of the people around the table.  
“You wear a wire and have a guard hanging around whenever you meet with him for a start. Me or Gee if either of us are around. Plus we fact check everything and trust nothing.”  
Frank looked over at his wife.  
“I’d be happier if you do the same.”  
“Given the circumstances I will agree but both of us can look after ourselves.”  
Gerard tried to keep a straight face as Frank raised his hands in mocked surrender.  
“Duly noted. Let’s get to work.”  
Within an hour they had tickets for the gala booked, Gerard had even conjured up a society date much to Lily’s annoyance and Mikey’s amusement. The three of them had a strange and yet loving relationship fast developing but he had explained that if he was going back into politics then his love life would be public property. That meant she and Mikey would have to remain in the background and they too would attend the gala as a couple so that Lily could snoop around the politician’s rooms. Frank had already donated and so was even on the speech list which Claire said meant boredom for all of them.  
Lily also checked in with Tom, a meeting arranged for the days following the gala, Mikey sent his teams into enemy territory to ensure a riot just blocks away from the next Presidential visit, he intended to send more Feds towards Mandini and then take him out completely. Gerard and Claire arranged another meeting with the Chinese to hand control of the latest shipments over and mollify the board over the recent share dive.  
It all left Frank with some free time and he decided to head downtown to the test labs where the techs looked after his D&D research. Frank wasn’t a man for technical stuff particularly but he needed the profits it could bring both to bolster his company and give him cash to plow into a return to politics. He was considering just how to do that as he drove, the radio blaring out a punk track as he chatted to one of the techs downtown.  
His next call was back to Mikey, Frank checking the mirror behind him as he turned towards the dockside and gunned the engine a little faster. There had been several black cars behind him for a number of miles and it somewhat amused him. They were going through Cesaro territory and clearly someone had clocked him.  
“Hey Mikes, where are you?”  
“The club. Why?”  
“I’m being followed.”  
Mikey grabbed his jacket about to answer before the line cut off to perfect silence.


	23. Chapter 23

The Mustang roared through the traffic at a bone breaking eighty five.  
Mikey neither heard the screaming horns or saw the trail of minor accidents behind him. The only focus was on getting towards the seafront where Frank had last called from according to the tracking device on the car, if the boss was in trouble then that was where Mikey needed to be. He had the police frequency open and had already called two captains that would be closest, deciding against worrying Claire or his brother until he knew for sure there was a problem. It was one thing they all counted on, there was nobody better than Mikey when it came to handling a crisis.  
Not that the man himself was panicking, Frank was no green kid that needed saving and was more than likely enjoying himself playing escape and evade. More that Mikey didn’t need more problems and certainly didn’t need to chase around half the city because Cesaro’s goons decided to fuck with the boss.  
“Mikey?”  
“Yeah?”  
“It’s Harrison, ninth precinct.”  
Mikey hit the accelerator a little harder, his plant in the local PD calling was not a good sign.  
“What’s up?”  
“A car went into the water dockside ten minutes ago. We can make a plate out and its registered to your boss. Divers are going in now.”  
“Fuck.”  
The phone cut off, Mikey could now see the dock ahead and swung along the road towards a crowd of police cars in the distance. He dialled Gee’s number, a terse message to call him back asap all he could afford before Mikey dialled another number. Tense seconds passed, he was halfway out of the car before Lily picked up.  
“Hi Mikey.”  
“Where are you?”  
Her tone became puzzled at the blunt reply.  
“At the compound. What’s up?”  
“Someone tried to hit Frank. Find Manny and put the place into lockdown then go to Frank’s office. In the phone book on the desk is the number for Doc Peters. Get him out to you and sit tight. Do not leave the compound.”  
He didn’t wait for the reply, striding down towards the police cars. Several heads had turned, nobody particularly wanted a pissed off Mikey headed at them and now Harrison stepped forward before a bad situation got made worse. Mikey didn’t acknowledge him, pushing past the uniforms towards where he could now see Frank’s car half submerged in the dock.  
“It’s empty. We have a search started.”  
Mikey snarled, his face devoid of anything bar a targeted rage.  
“I’m gonna send some guys down. Find him but keep the fucking press out of it.”  
The police sergeant stepped forward, taking a little delight in putting police tape in front of the cars to cut off access to the area. Harrison walked him back towards Mikey’s car, their voices kept low.  
“There was a chase, at least two other cars.”  
“Keep me posted and tell your lot to tell Claire carefully. I’ll call ahead but until I see a body Frank is alive, got it?”  
The other man nodded, glad to rush away as Mikey got back in the car. He turned the car at speed, heading alongside the dock with the tide as he called his boys and then home. Mikey knew damn well this was either the other Families or worse the Feds trying to buy into the party. It brought all the bad memories of losing James back and his eyes scanned the shoreline as Claire finally picked up, her voice tight.  
“I just left the meeting. What’s happened, Gee says there are cops downstairs.”  
“Keep calm but someone ran Frank off the road by the dock. He’s missing.”  
There was a pause, a tremor in her voice when she spoke again.  
“He’s in the water?”  
“I’ll find him Claire. Now go down and talk to the cops then get Gee to take you home. Stay there, Lily has a doc coming out and Manny to take care of things. Send Gee to me.”  
He didn’t let her speak again, disconnecting as his eyes flicked from the road to the beach. Experience gained from years of dumping bodies at various points along the shore told him that the tide would take anything in the water towards the eastern beaches before the sea washed out completely into open water. His only hope was that Frank was alive and swimming or at least alive and likely to be washed up.  
“C’mon Frankie, where are you….”  
The phone rang again, focus regained and energy going through him at Gee’s voice.  
“Bro, you at the scene?”  
“Following the shore, he wasn’t in the car so he could still be ok.”  
“I’ll go down to the cops once I get Claire home, make sure to be seen seeing as the press will be all over this. If I hear anything I’ll let you know.”  
“Ditto. Fucking people are gonna die if he’s hurt.”  
“They’re gonna die anyway. Cesaro and Mandini first.”  
Mikey smiled grimly as the phone disconnected and the land flattened out. The building had died away to a scrubby beach with dirty sand but it let him see more and there was nobody behind him as Mikey slowed. There had been too many bodies to dump over the years but he knew he was incapable of feeling it, a lifetime of shrinks and medication had made Mikey very aware that his capacity for emotion was limited in its extremes and yet…well he could love and had loved, loved his brother, his family, the boy and now that hurt again, he couldn’t lose Frank and it made him wince.  
That one movement brought something else into focus. A huddled figure that any other time he would have missed but now hope soared in his chest and Mikey slammed on the brakes, the car door opening almost before the handbrake went on. Mikey quickly popped the trunk, blankets and a small first aid kit retrieved before he ran onto the sand.   
“Frank?”  
Mikey winced, Frank’s face was bloody and pale. No sign of breathing although he almost screamed with relief at the faint pulse when he put his fingers to Frank’s neck. Quickly Mikey turned Frank onto his side and into the recovery position before thumping him hard on the back. There was a splutter and an impulsive inhaling of breath as Frank threw up salt water and sucked in the air. Mikey held him there for a moment, realising how lucky his friend had been.  
“Frank, its Mikey. I got you ok, relax.”  
Frank weakly moved, a groan of pain causing Mikey to move his hand. When he looked it was covered in blood. Immediately Mikey checked the soaked front of Frank’s shirt and then under it, locating a bullet wound in Frank’s right shoulder. Mikey didn’t panic, reapplying pressure as he assessed his next course of action. There was an exit wound so the damn thing had gone right through but blood was trickling faster and it needed stopping.   
Soon the contents of the first aid box were spread around, Mikey doing his best to fashion a makeshift bandage. Still Frank was out although breathing and the tall man knew that this was out of even their doctors league. Frank needed a hospital and quick, Mikey making the call and then one to Harrison to call it in. The minutes seemed to stretch as he checked for any more wounds and came up with nothing more than the cuts and bruises from Frank’s struggle to get out of the car.  
“M-Mikey?”  
Frank tried to open his eyes, his vision swimming in and out of focus.  
“You’re lucky, you got out the car.”  
“It….wasn’t the….families.”  
Mikey stared, stripping off his jacket to wrap around Frank as sirens started to sound in the distance. Blood had started to leak through the dressing and he didn’t like the hint of blue among the chalk paleness of Frank’s face.  
“Doesn’t matter for the minute. Stay with me Frankie.”  
“T-tell Claire I’m ok.”  
Mikey shook his head with a grin, whoever had done this was now facing down her wrath as well as the rest of them and quite frankly, Claire could be terrifying. He pulled Frank closer, trying to keep the soaked man warm with his body heat as he fought to stay conscious. Frank couldn’t remember what had happened, only the two cars coming out of side roads and then being shunted. Everything hurt but more than that he was now worried about what else could be headed their way. He gripped Mikey’s hand.  
“Are they…safe?”  
Mikey waved at the paramedics, trying to keep his face calm.  
“Compound is shut down, they’re safe.”  
Gerard landed next to him hard, his eyes searching Mikey’s.  
“Thank fuck, how’s he doing?”  
Mikey tried to speak as the paramedics lifted Frank from him and started to assess the damage. Gee helped his brother up, almost holding Mikey upright and starting to get scared at the almost catatonic shock that seemed to be enveloping him.  
“He’s got a gunshot wound, right shoulder.”  
Gee turned Mikey’s face towards his.  
“They’re gonna take care of him.”  
Mikey couldn’t speak, letting his brother hold him as they watched the paramedics start hooking up IV’s and enveloping Frank in heating blankets and equipment. The police were behind them and for once neither of the Way boys were going to refuse the help, Mikey even letting one of the paramedics sit him down and check him over. Gerard called Claire, calming her with the news that Frank was alive and arranging to meet at the hospital.  
Through it all Mikey could think of only one thing.  
The utter and burning need for revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit just got real....


	24. Chapter 24

“Mr Way, can you tell us anything more about Mr Iero’s condition?”  
“Frank is recovering at home, Claire and myself will run the business till he recovers and thank you all for your concern….”  
“What about the rumours of you returning to politics?”  
“Well I have always hoped to serve this great country so we will see. Although when the law and government don’t seem to be able to stop a citizen being run off the road by thugs you have to wonder.”  
Gerard smiled for the camera, the interviewer clearly lapping it up as they trailed along after him. Frank could do nothing but smirk, he had never been able to resist it when Gee turned on the charm and now it was like rewinding time back to before he had been shot. Back when Ray was alive and all manner of things seemed possible. He turned the television off and lay back against the bank of pillows to assess this latest lucky escape.  
Frank remembered nothing of the first two weeks after Mikey had saved him on the beach. The bullet wound was nasty and the cold sea water had caused a bout of pneumonia that had turned serious and he knew his wife and family had been through some serious worry on his behalf. After that the memories were hazy although Gee and Mikey had insisted he be brought back to the compound, until they knew who had hit him it was safer to be behind all the manpower that his family could command.  
A wry smile crossed his face. While Gee was sticking to the plan and being seen, the excitement about his comeback growing and the money their new British friends sent their way was smoothing down both politicians in their own party and the enemies, his little brother had followed his own path and to Frank’s surprise had been aided by the girls. Cesaro had fled as far down the coast as he could before Mikey caught up with him and quite literally gutted him before any of his own family let alone the others realised he was out of state.  
Claire had let him have that one as she knew he had to get it out of his system. She understood Mikey and the moods that sometimes made him act irrationally, able to steer him out of danger most of the time but she hadn’t left Frank’s bedside all the time had been in hospital and Gerard had been running the business so only Lily was left to try and control Mikey which was never going to happen. Nobody would be able to pin the death on him of course but Gee had gone toe to toe with his brother and told him to tone it down, the slanging match in the hospital corridor could have gone bad until Claire stepped in and calmed them both down.  
Now the city still sporadically burned, Mandini had gone into hiding in his own compound although Frank had been able to confirm that this was no sloppy mob hit and seemed more likely to be either the Feds or the President himself via the CIA. Showed they were attracting attention and neither of the Way boys wanted that while the game had only just started to play out. So Mikey had reluctantly agreed to tone down his personal war and content himself with consolidating the gang’s new territory and the arms side of the business.  
Frank pondered on that and the fact that Lily now seemed to be the plaything of both brothers and more. The girl had stuck it out, running errands and doing whatever Claire needed of her while he was sick. She had liased with Tom and that seemed to be going well, the fundraiser was now at hand and it would be Claire that accompanied Gee while he was still stuck in bed and getting bored. Mikey and Lily would sweep the rooms and Frank almost hoped that they would find something to track down who had taken him out. Mikey was gripped by a paranoia over his family’s safety that Frank knew he would have to address but for now it worked in his favour although he could hear the approaching argument in the hallway.  
“It’s a fundraiser Michael, you cannot go in there with a Glock under your arm.”  
“Why the fuck not?”  
“It’ll spoil the lines of your suit for a start.”  
Claire bustled into the room, climbing on the bed and into Frank’s arms to kiss him. Mikey followed behind to slump into the armchair, almost grumpily pulling Lily onto his lap. Frank grinned and pointed at the television.  
“Guess Gee is still downtown then.”  
“Tying up the shipment to Taiwan and getting drooled over yes.”  
Claire was just grateful that Frank looked more himself, he needed a shave and haircut which suited him but the colour was back in his cheeks and he had some movement back in his arm although it remained in a sling. She didn’t want to think about how close she had come to losing him and contended herself with cuddling up to him as he giggled at Mikey’s comment.  
“It’s coming together nicely and Claire is right, no guns at the fundraiser.”  
Mikey rolled his eyes.  
“I’m gonna go break into some rooms and you want me unarmed?”  
Lily smiled at Frank and kissed Mikey’s neck.  
“The whole point of that is to sneak in unnoticed baby.”  
“Right up till some fuck tries to stop us.”  
Frank put up a hand and considered a compromise. Being searched was hardly likely and Mikey did have a point when there were the girls to think off.  
“A blade is ok though.”  
Mikey nodded, his face still a little dour as Claire gave them all a copy of the invite and schedule. In fairness she knew it was his idea of hell and she could still see the madness that lurked behind his eyes. It made her shiver and Frank noticed, his voice a little more serious.  
“Don’t go picking a fight tonight. I know you want to burn the city down but this needs subtlety to get what we want out of it.”  
Lily could feel Mikey was still tense and fought down the desire it was provoking. Their relationship was more volatile and less loving than what she had with Gee but she had come to love Mikey in her own way and knew that although he fought it there were feelings there for her and certainly for his brother. It was fun and intriguing and the lure of power was making it all the harder to fight it when either one of them wanted to do something crazy hence her not attempting to stop Mikey when the bloodlust had taken over.  
“After that you can have Mandini.”  
Frank knew that little bargain would keep his boy happy and caressed his wife’s back as they went over the plan for the fundraiser. Gee and Claire would work the room, speaking to the right people which included Tom’s plant and generally making it known that he was back in the running albeit in a small way until Frank had removed their former man in power. Meanwhile Lily would go through all the politicians rooms with Mikey as lookout and see what they could dig up. Any lead could be exploited and Frank knew all the tricks.  
“Doesn’t matter how small or who its about. Anything.”  
Lily nodded, not quite seeing how this would help Gee.  
“Even for our own side?”  
Frank flashed a smile.  
“Especially our side. People shouldn’t keep secrets from me, makes me nervous.”  
Claire ruffled his hair and stood up.  
“You trying to get up the minute we leave make me nervous.”  
Frank tried to paint on an innocent face.  
“Nope, me and MTV for the night I swear.”  
“You’re a bad liar Iero.”  
“But Claire….”  
Even Mikey had to laugh at the dropped lip and pleading stare Frank attempted, they all knew that the boss was going mad not being able to move very far or fast but Claire was having none of it and Mikey pulled Lily away and down the corridor towards his room as they continued to argue. He couldn’t relax no matter how hard he tried and considered taking his girl roughly to relieve the pressure before realsing his phone was ringing.  
Lily glanced over his shoulder and saw that the number was Gerard’s. She shut the door behind them and let him take the call, looking out over the gardens that led towards the lemon grove. Gerard had warned her never to bring the subject of the boy buried there up with his brother and had said only that it had broken Mikey’s heart and that was why he lost his mind over their safety sometimes. It fascinated her and yet she was wary enough of both of them not to ask. Lily was not that stupid that she couldn’t see that neither of them were always sane and it appealed to her chaotic side.  
His arms went around her waist and he pulled her back against his body.  
“Lily…”  
“Mikey…”  
“Get changed, I gotta go get Gee and then we can get this bullshit over with.”  
Mikey grinned at the disappointed look on her face, amused that it was so easy to get just what he wanted despite her initial seduction of him. He would do what Frank wanted for now but things still needed to be put right and there was a blood debt to be paid before he would be satisfied. With a final kiss he left Lily there at the window and headed downstairs.  
She watched him leave with a half smile, her mind on the night ahead.


	25. Chapter 25

“Are you having fun?”  
“Actually I am. Persuading Mikey to dance made my night.”  
Gerard giggled, pulling Lily closer to him as they moved to the music. She had thought the other event they had attended was sophisticated but this was on another level. The hotel was huge and exclusive, now filled with men in tuxedos who normally walked the halls of power. Money sang at her from all of them, the women in designer dresses and wads of pure hard cash going into massive buckets for the less deserving, as if charity somehow made these people pure.  
Lily herself wore black at Gee’s request, he had bought her diamonds to wear which Mikey had finished off with a bracelet that still made her head spin. They liked treating her he said with that half smile that Lily had come to love. Gerard had been working the crowd since they arrived with Claire at his side and was taking his opportunity to share to dance with Lily while Claire collared Mikey to go get some drinks.  
“Very few make my brother do anything he doesn’t want to do.”  
Lily winked, glancing up just to enjoy looking at his face.  
“Just you and me baby.”  
“Just you and me. So don’t worry about this whole thing.”  
She sighed, there had been an intense discussion the night before about the future now that the game was on and it had ended in an argument. Gerard had been blunt, if he was going to run for top office then he would have to be seen and have to marry some society hostess that would be the perfect First Lady. Didn’t mean he had any intention of giving up either Lily or Mikey but their relationship would have to be in private. Lily had not been happy, expecting Mikey to back her up and surprised when he didn’t.  
“I guess I have no choice. You’re going to do it anyway.”  
Gerard rested his face against hers.  
“I have to but it changes nothing.”  
She closed her eyes briefly and then smiled.  
“Just don’t expect me to like it.”  
Gerard kissed her hand as the song ended and Mikey beckoned them over from the side of the room. He suited the tux despite hating it and Claire noted that Lily had bullied him back into his glasses just to finish the look. She wore red, her birthday rubies from Frank glittering in the light as she checked her phone and the various messages from her husband. He was clearly bored and had resorted to sending her derp faces just to make her laugh. Claire could fall in love with the man all over again just for that and texted him back to behave as the serious business of the night was about to get started.  
“Senator Francis just arrived Gee, wants to discuss business…”  
Claire winked at him, noting again that the severe blond haircut made Gee look almost as dangerous as he was. When Mikey stood next to him, also blond but still a little scruffy and streetsmart, it was impossible to tell they were brothers until you registered the hazel eyes were the same. She liked the paradox, Gee merely nodding with a smirk.  
“Oh I bet he does, he likes the gambling that goes his way when one of us is in office. Still, his money is useful. I’ll get a room number and text you.”  
Mikey nodded, his skin crawling a little at all the people.  
“Keep them coming, we have the top floor suite so can check everything on the flight up.”  
Claire glanced around, waving to a couple of women she loathed.  
“Just remember the plan and don’t go kicking anything off.”  
“Trust me.”  
Gerard smirked, kissing Lily’s cheek as Claire patted Mikey’s ass and then led him into the crowd. Mikey finished his drink, pulling Lily back against him as he checked all the available exits. It wasn’t lost on him that the suite had a massive bed and shower which would be interesting to use later and he hoped that they could at least get the work part done and be away from the hypocrites that kept smiling at him. He kept up his usual poker face, some of the women looking disappointed that he was cosying up to Lily. The press had wanted pictures of Gerard of course, made it easier for Mikey to avoid but he knew there would be at least one photo in the papers the next day.   
“Stay here. I wanna check out the exits in the lobby.”  
Lily nodded, glad of the chance to drink another vodka and take in the scene. She watched him disappear into the crowds and went back to people watching. There were actors and actresses she recognised, politicians of course and reality stars. It was both surreal and interesting as she wondered how many of these people were every bit as crooked as her adopted family.  
“Well now, look who got dressed up.”  
Lily froze, turning to see Tom walking towards her. He grinned, looking her up and down and appreciating just how good the girl could look. Clearly class could be bought as he took in the long form fitting dress and the expensive jewellery, her hair piled up into a neat chignon. Lily kept her face neutral, hoping that Mikey was within sight of this and not on the other side of the building.  
“Tom…I’d say nice to see you but we both know that wouldn’t exactly be true.”  
“Don’t be like that. Dance with me.”  
She couldn’t refuse, the people around them were smiling at the attractive couple and the last thing she needed was to draw attention to herself. Tom filled out the tux nicely, she couldn’t resist a quick look up and down as he pulled her onto the dancefloor. His arms slid around her waist, his face against hers as the music picked up.  
“You can play with these guys all you want. You still owe me.”  
Lily growled.  
“Fuck you. I told you not to try and play this situation.”  
“The British Government don’t give a shit what you want Lily.”  
Tom smiled, unable to resist winding her up.”  
“Besides, they’re useful and you were the way in. Doesn’t matter to me if the Mexicans suddenly find out where you are.”  
“You bastard, don’t even think of selling me out.”  
She tried to pull away but he held her tight, twisting her arm until he could watch the pain flash across her face. Lily could see he was holding a grudge and badly wanted to be somewhere else, there was no doubt in her mind that given the chance he would put her on the first plane back to South America. Their business dealing up to this point had been cordial but remote, this now was much more personal.  
“Problem?”  
Tom turned to face Mikey, noting the cold, blank look.  
“Not at all. Just catching up.”  
He let go, Lily immediately pulled behind Mikey as the mobster stared down the agent. There was an immediate sense of aggression, people already starting to look across as the two men stared each other down. Tom knew better than to break their cover, his bosses had been very clear that this deal had to work out and that meant dealing with Iero and his boys. That Lily had picked a side might annoy him but for now there was not much he could do.  
“Have a nice night.”  
Mikey didn’t smile, watching Tom walk away before grabbing Lily’s hand and walking her quickly across the floor of the ballroom. They didn’t speak until they were alone in the lift and going up to the top floor. Already Mikey had three room numbers from Gee and wanted to make sure Lily held her cool before they went to work. She was shaking, unnerved by the whole thing.  
“He’s going to go after me sooner or later.”  
“Sooner or later I’m going to gut him for trying.”  
Lily smirked, unable to resist his deadpan delivery.  
“You’d kill for me Mikey?”  
He shrugged, he actually wanted to break her neck for talking to the guy but knew that wasn’t quite rational. They crossed the thickly carpeted lobby and Mikey retrieved the key card, using it to calibrate the frequency required to open the doors. He didn’t smile, annoyed at being forced into a near confrontation when the focus should be on Gee getting the politicians to do as he wanted.  
“I’ll kill because of you no doubt.”  
He slammed her up against the closed door, one hand around her neck. Lily smiled at him, Mikey was like nothing else when his temper was up and she wanted him, wanted to fuck him and then go find his brother and talk him out of his stupid plan. She kept her eyes on his face, trying to read him as Mikey looked her up and down. He liked that she was no longer scared of him, Gerard or anything else that their world contained and it seemed that only Tom and his threats caused her to worry. For that alone Mikey wanted the man dead.  
“We could have a little fun before….”  
Now he did smile, waving his phone.  
“Nope time to go to work.”  
She kissed him hard as he released her, Mikey enjoying her pressed against him before they stepped back out into the hallway. It was quiet up there and he leant over the balcony to locate the Senator’s room below. There were few people around but Mikey knew security guards patrolled and now they were on the clock. It took less than two minutes to get down to correct floor and Lily took the card from Mikey, leaving him to keep watch as she slipped off her heels and found the correct door. She took the card, edging it into the lock and waiting for contact before slipping a thin piece of wire into the gap. For a moment nothing happened before a small green light flickered and the door opened.   
Mikey joined her as they slipped inside, the darkened room was luxurious but generic much like their own but he could see a laptop and Lily had already made her way across to the small safe. She started on the lock as Mikey fired up the laptop and set to running an encryption code for the password using a small zip drive Frank had procured from his tech drive. It would all need decoding but soon he was downloading files and Lily was copying files from the man’s work phone that had been locked in the safe.  
Within four minutes they were back out into the corridor and three more numbers from Gerard had appeared. Claire sent Lily a text, it was going better than even Frank had anticipated but she too had seen Tom and now the boss was insisting they make the job as neat and quick as possible. Time would be needed to sort through the information but none of them wanted to be picked up by either hotel security or the Federal Agents that patrolled down below.  
Gerard held them all in contempt, his hand resting lightly on Claire’s ass as they made small talk with a bunch of people he despised and yet….there was something fun in dropping hints of his return, the lure of power pulling more and more people to them and more than ever he wished Frank was there to enjoy it and help soothe the ache growing in his head.  
Claire stroked his arm and passed him a glass of water as they made their exit back into the main room for the auction. The timing was perfect, the huge sums of money going back and forth had started turning into potential campaign donations for Gee and yet she could see pain clouding his eyes.  
“Are you ok?”  
He nodded, his smile tired.  
“Takes some getting used to. I haven’t mingled like this in years and lets face it, hanging out with Mikey means minimal conversation.”  
Claire giggled.  
“Your baby brother is on room four so not much longer.”  
“Come on, lets go to the suite and call Frankie before this final back patting. I can take some painkillers there.”  
Tom watched them leave, so far so good.  
He made note also of every senator and congressman that Gee had talked to.  
Just in case.


	26. Chapter 26

Frank slammed the car into fifth, enjoying the roar of the engine as the car picked up speed on the empty road. It was late, a little past three and there was no traffic to impede the sports car as it headed downtown and towards the docks. Frank flexed his shoulder, glad to have movement restored and the pain that had dogged him for weeks now down to acceptable levels.   
Mikey was next to him, Gerard in the back, all of them calm and focused. It had been a busy few months, Frank had run his businesses from his bed for some of it, delegating to Mikey and Claire where he could. They had stepped up the war, Mandidni now isolated alone in his mansion waiting for the sword of Damocles to fall. Frank had engineered it through his pet Hagan so that it looked like the Iero family was beaten too but it was Frank’s pet that ruled the underworld.  
The other plan was also in play. Gerard and the former protégé of President Toro turned interim President had joined forces, there had been no doubt Jared would play along faced with that or a rather permanent removal from both heading the party and life. They were gaining traction and newspaper headlines which suited Frank and Tom but really riled up the enemy in office.   
All in all things were going well, the girls were heading out the following morning for the West Coast to gain some help and influence with a decent sized counterfeiting operation which left the boys to plan a weekend of hedonism. Claire knew this, making sure to brief the captains not to acquiesce to the more outlandish requests from the boss after two bottles of tequila but couldn’t help but be fondly indulgent. Frank’s brush with death had scared her and the fact that he had once again pulled the family back from the brink of disaster was something to be celebrated.  
Which was why this night time flight through the dark was unexpected. Mikey and Frank had been testing guns down at the range, Gerard at a society even when the call had come through. Claire and Lily had been at the compound when one of the captains had called it in. A man caught on their territory with high grade drugs and high end weapons. That he had been jumped by four of Frank’s guys had been bad luck on his part but that wasn’t what prompted the call that had brought the boss and his generals down to the docks at speed.  
“Who’s in there with them?”  
“Sweeney and Mackson. Good men.”  
Frank winced, the idea of Claire near violent men that weren’t him still set his teeth on edge.  
“And Lily is sure she knows him?”  
Mikey loaded his gun, calmly focused.  
“Mexican and one of the low level goons when she was running the thing.”  
Gerard glanced out of the window, his face hidden in a hoody as he too loaded the semi automatic in his lap. This wasn’t unexpected from his point of view although he was surprised that they had got into the country so quickly. His mind turned to Tom and he instantly wondered about a double cross.   
“I don’t like it. Sniffing around our turf is too much of a coincidence.”  
Frank nodded, his mind fixed on the road ahead.  
“Mikey, when we get there ask Sweeney to check in with Manny. We need a presence on the street looking for more of these bastards.”  
Mikey nodded, poker faced and calm.  
“Could be nothing but better safe than sorry.”  
“Amen to that.”  
Frank turned the car down the narrow path between two large warehouses. It was too exposed down here but there was no choice and he wanted it sorted and to be on his way home quickly. There was a studied calm to both the Ways as the three men stashed the car in one rundown building and made their way to another right on the shore front. Only a flickering light hinted that people were inside but Frank could see one of his men on guard, the thug quick to nod to the boss and open the door.   
“You ok?”  
Claire smiled, Frank’s arms going around her in a tight hug.  
“Fine. The boys did good work, they took some serious equipment of this guy.”  
“And Lily knows him?”  
Her smile turned into a smirk as she looked at Mikey.  
“I would say she spend too much time with you two. If you want to question him, you’d best be quick.”  
Gerard heard it as they walked further into the warehouse. A low moaning howl and then the thud of wood against flesh and bone. Mikey didn’t blink, his pace quickening at the sight of Lily and a baseball bat inflicting some serious damage on a large man who was groaning on the floor. A low bench stood nearby and Frank eyed up the weapons with an expert eye. He recognised them, pointing it out to Gerard as Mikey headed towards the woman who was now screaming in fluent Spanish at the fallen man.  
“Its one of ours.”  
“What the fuck….since when do we export to Mexico?”  
Frank picked up the gun, his gaze now drawn to the small selection of plastic bags. Each contained white powder and some of it was labelled. He hazarded a guess at cocaine in some and heroin in some others. Frank knew a lot of money when he looked at it and smiled at Gee.  
“We don’t but someone got their hands on our merchandise.”  
Claire didn’t know whether to be concerned or not, her hand grasping Lily’s as Mikey pulled her back towards her family and removed the bat from her grip. He was amused, certainly confirmed that she had been in charge down there and now he was intent on nurturing that side of her nature.  
“He’s a low level punk. Not smart enough to get here on his own and certainly not with that kind of shipment.”  
Frank looked over at Lily, his stare now focused.  
“So you’re saying someone else is pulling the strings here.”  
“I’m saying Tom is fucking with us.”  
Lily was adamant, it was all too pat this face from her past turning up and no matter how much Frank might be getting out of working with her ex-lover it didn’t mean she trusted him one bit. Looking back over her shoulder at the fallen man, she pulled Mikey closer, the brothers on either side as she lowered her voice.  
“This isn’t just crack and coke.”  
Mikey blinked.  
“Sure looks like it.”  
“See the bags with the X?”  
Lily leant in and lifted it, shaking the powder in the light of the single bulb.  
“They called it Angel De Oro. Golden Angel to us. It’s a mix of things along with the coke and gives it an extra buzz. Thing is they never got the mix right and it can kill most people really quickly if you take even a little too much. We cracked down, refused to sell it but…well it being here is not good.”  
Gerard was intrigued, his mind drawn to all kinds of bad ideas.  
“So its Russian roulette in powder form.”  
“Pretty much.”  
Mikey left them, drawn back across the space to where the man still lay. Both legs were badly broken and he was almost weeping with pain although he valiantly spat at Mikey and gibbered in broken English. The usual please and threats only calmed when Mikey produced his handgun.  
“Let’s keep things simple. Who sent you?”  
The man spat again and managed a fuck you which produced the result of a bullet going through the shattered left knee. Mikey didn’t care about the screams, Gerard joining them as Frank gave instructions to his men. Claire and Lily set about gathering up the merchandise and weapons, all of it would be analysed by the lab guys that Gee kept on staff and Frank hoped he would be able to trace the weapons back to their shipment. Would give him a clue as to whether Lily was right and someone was double crossing him.  
“Claire, I think you and Lily should stay at home. The trip can wait.”  
She rolled her eyes at him, Frank unable to stop the smile that crossed his face.  
“Stop that right now. We need that deal and this could just be someone being creative.”  
“It could or it could be trouble. Please?”  
She kissed him, knowing that he was trying to protect her and loving him for it.  
“We will be fine. Stop worrying.”  
Frank hugged her tight, watching the scene over his shoulder as Mikey and Gee pulled a semi confession from the man. Hand in hand with his wife Frank walked over, his other arm going around Lily. He had become somewhat protective or her, unable to figure out whether being stuck between the brothers was something she wanted or was being talked into.  
“Its Lily’s old cartel. Not sure who the ringleader is or if they had help.”  
“My guns?”  
Mikey looked down.  
“He won’t say. They still have serial numbers though.”  
Frank’s voice was cold, his tone enough to make the man start to pray.  
“Finish it and hang it near the British Embassy. Just in case.”  
Lily grinned, Frank kissing her cheek as he and Claire headed back towards the door. He would instruct the men to torch the place after and keep an eye open for any spike in drug deaths, happy to leave his boys to handle the clean up. Gerard was already on it, a phone call to Manny meant the police would be pointed the other way until they were finished. Mikey smirked, handing Lily the gun as he wrapped his arms around her waist.  
“You killed for Gerard, now kill for me.”  
Lily leant around to kiss him, taking the shot without a moments hesitation. Mikey smiled, Gerard soon joining them in a tight embrace as Lily started considering a plan to take out Tom before things got out of hand and one of them got hurt. The brothers were merely interested, it was all just another distraction, another strand to the war they were fighting.  
Or so everyone thought.


	27. Chapter 27

“Why do our weekends off always end up like this?”  
Mikey half opened one eye and squinted at Frank.  
“Which part? The fucking or the drinking?”  
Frank ran a hand through his hair, pushing the sheets further down and stroking Gee’s hair. Mikey was leant against his other shoulder, all three of them still a little drunk and yet not yet ready to sleep after some enthusiastic bondage style fucking. The thin line of bruising along the sleeping Gerard’s ribs called to Mikey, his fingers stroking them as his best friend smiled at the ceiling.  
“All of it. We were supposed to be working.”  
“This is working. Its teambuilding.”  
Frank giggled, slapping Mikey’s bare ass as he leant out of the bed to grab them both another beer. This bit of three way entertainment had been the brother’s idea to take Frank’s mind of letting Claire and Lily go across the country while the war still raged. The rumours on the street were not good, several small gangs of Mexicans had been found in all the territories, all of them armed with guns from a shipment that on the surface had been sent to France. The new drug was also out in small quantities which had caused a couple of deaths and now the Iero Family was screening all their shipments.  
It was an inconvenience but nothing that Frank couldn’t deal with which was how Claire had overruled his desire to keep the girls home. They had business and part of him liked how she and Lily were becoming almost violently independent. A smirk lifted his features.  
“Do you reckon Claire and Lily are…y’know….”  
Mikey raised an eyebrow and prodded Gee until there was a sleepy retort.  
“What?”  
“Do you think the girls are fucking right now?”  
Gerard opened one eye and looked up at the two other men.  
“Probably. Just think, you two pervs ain’t there to see it.”  
Frank snorted beer through his nose, the laughter only stopping when Mikey had finished tickling Gee and the three of them were lying exhausted. It felt good to laugh and release the tension of the last few months. It had become all too rare that the three men got to be alone together and it had been fun to kick back and enjoy each other.  
“Better hope that’s all their doing. If Jamie and his little counterfeiting operation work out then you know there will be drinking involved.”  
Frank stretched, his smile a little smug at Gee’s comment.  
“Poor kid wouldn’t last five minutes with Claire let alone both of them. Not that I would know seeing as you two hog Lily.”  
“Always willing to share Frankie.”  
Mikey smirked, enjoying the vision that thought was bringing into his head before getting up and heading for a shower. It was nearly four in the morning and although he was tired there was little point in going to bed. Business would be on in the morning, he knew Gee had a press conference announcing his official return to politics and Frank was politely making sure he was across town at another gallery opening.   
That would leave Mikey to his own devices and he liked that, enjoying the thought even more when Frank joined him in the shower. There would be violence later after all the sex and he was discussing the latest shipment of tainted drugs that his men had interrupted as they headed downstairs to where Gerard was brewing coffee. Their boy had hardly bothered to dress, black skinny jeans the only thing on him as Frank kissed his shoulder and sat down at the table.  
“That’s the fourth shipment this week.”  
“They’re getting over the border too easy for my liking. I know Lily thinks its Tom but this looks more like the feds to me.”  
Gerard winced, placing mugs on the table as he joined them. The first light of dawn was blushing the horizon beyond the compound wall and he wondered not for the first time why they couldn’t just retire and enjoy all the money the three of them had spent a lifetime amassing. It was fun to run for office and fuck with the government but a sick dread had started to build up in his stomach since Tom had dropped the bombshell that he knew just what Gerard had done.  
“Could be. I don’t like that it has our name on it. Gives us a bad rep on the streets when we should be lying low. Are we going to finish Mandini?”  
Frank nodded at Mikey’s question.  
“While the girls are out of town and Gee is in sight at that convention.”  
Both the Ways were happy with that solution, another mug of coffee going down as Frank checked out the news and Mikey disappeared outside on patrol. Gerard was content to make breakfast, his mind drifting back to Lily and his own dislike of letting her go off on her own. He was as aware as Frank that it was hypocritical but he couldn’t help it and finally decided to call her, the phone in his hand as Frank stared at him.  
“I just want to check they’re ok.”  
“Baby, its four in the morning.”  
Frank smirked, rolling his eyes which caused Gee to giggle and sit in his lap.  
“They better not be causing trouble out there.”  
The boss tried not to think about that thought turning him on.  
“Trouble finds us, you know that.”  
The words had barely left his mouth as every light in the place went off. Immediately Frank and Gerard were on their feet and moving through the house and away from the huge windows that fronted the kitchen. It was instinct and nothing else, Frank aware that there was no noise from outside bar the dogs barking and his phone was in his hand before he even realised it. Even in pitch black it was easy for him to call Mikey, the phone dead in his hand told Frank all he needed to know.  
“It’s a raid. Gee, go out the back door and head to town, you don’t want to be caught up in this.”  
“Fuck, ok but I’ll get the lawyers ready.”  
There was time only for them to squeeze hands before Gee headed left and through the study to reach out back. Frank felt the dark closing in on him and headed straight for the front door. His heart was hammering in his chest, the adrenaline mixing with annoyance that the government had clearly decided it was time to fuck with him directly. Like he had ever put up with that shit, a wry grin crossing his face as his hand touched the door handle and he pulled it open.  
Immediately the sky lit up in brilliant white, temporarily blinding him as Frank raised his hands in the air. A loudhailer started up, helicopters and strobe lights now making it seem as though it was midday.  
“Get down on the ground!”  
Frank complied, still smiling and not too disturbed as armed men swarmed past him and into the house. All the money was already gone to the locked down tax haven bank account, his wife was out of harms way and his lawyers were the best. The feds and the government could try this every six months and still it didn’t bother him particularly. He just hoped Mikey had stayed sane and complied while his brother got out the back entrance.  
Strong hands pulled Frank to his feet, the handcuffs pulling his arms tight behind him as Frank stared them down. To his relief he could see Mikey being pushed his way, the only damage being a bleeding nose and the most surly expression that his lover could remember. Like Frank he was handcuffed but not as calm about it.  
“Fucking feds, gonna sue you for wrongful arrest like last time.”  
The head agent smiled thinly at the threat and looked Frank up and down.  
“Not this time. You got sloppy Iero.”  
Frank grinned.  
“I’m a legitimate businessman. You have nothing same as usual.”  
“Where’s your wife and her friend?”  
Now Frank did snarl, Mikey immediately pulling against the three men holding him.  
“Claire is out of town and nothing to do with this.”  
The agent merely smirked and nodded over towards the gate.  
“Your friend Mr Way, where’s he?”  
There was a moment’s pause, Frank now starting to calculate just why they wanted Gee and the girls as Mikey continued to stare the man down. There was something about this that was starting to feel wrong and he swore under his breath as he saw Gee being hauled across the compound towards them. There was no struggle in his friend, like Frank he maintained his calm and had allowed himself to be cuffed without protest. He locked eyes with his brother as the three men were lined up. All around them the Family staff were being questioned and now the head agent paused, satisfied that his raid had been a success.  
“Now gentlemen. You are all under arrest for conspiring to commit treason against the United States government.”  
Frank could do nothing but smile.  
“That’s a new one.”  
“Hey Gee, you heard that before?”  
“Nope Mikey, I haven’t.”  
Frank refused to let his concern show as they were marched towards the huge black van that would take them downtown. His girls were loose and the game was as yet still on.


	28. Chapter 28

An anonymous rental car wound its way along a dark forest road.  
The two women inside were calm, a feat in itself after three days on the run. Lily had gone into panic mode when the single word text had come through from Manny but Claire had gone into fight mode. Frank had made her go through the drill time and time again and now she followed it to the letter. They had escaped LA by a whisker aided by the young man in the seat behind them and his brother, both of them now insisting on helping out their new allies.  
“So where we going?”  
Jamie was intrigued by the danger and the two women who now looked so radically different to when he had first met them. Both had cut and dyed their hair, and wore contacts, even going so far as to change the style and cut of their clothes so that someone would have to be very close before any form of recognition would occur. The blond boy found it fascinating, his younger brother was just in awe.  
“Cabin out here that only a few people know about. We can see where the captains are, who’s in jail and who’s not. More importantly we can find out where the boys are and get things ready.”  
Sam’s eyes went wide at Claire’s words, the smirk on Lily’s face was not comforting.  
“Ready?”  
“We’re going to bust them out.”  
The men in the back exchanged a glance. Jamie spoke carefully, aware that he was now in some deep shit that even aiding and abetting seemed small in comparison. Part of him had expected the girls to hire lawyers and fight this the legal way seeing as he had considered the Iero family to be mostly legitimate. Apparently not and now he was involved in something that quite frankly, he was starting to regret.  
“How? The Feds have them and we don’t have a clue where or if they are together.”  
Lily produced a phone, one that was cloned and virtually untraceable.  
“The boys are still together, the bug at the Feds building is hearing fucking everything and so is the one I tagged on Tom. I knew that ratfuck bastard was in on this and now we know why.”  
Claire’s face was grim. It had been a setup from the start, a plan spun between the governments of two nations to take down someone who posed a threat, who had power and influence enough to have owned the White House once and could do so again. That they hadn’t seen it annoyed her but over confidence could happen to anyone and now all she wanted to do was save her men and get the fuck out of dodge. Lily had some scores of her own to settle now, the largest of which involved taking Tom and gutting him.  
“The Feds won’t give up even if you manage this.”  
The girls grinned, there was enough money stashed away to run a small country for a hundred years and more than a few places to disappear to. Somehow the quiet life had never seemed more appealing although they knew that none of their men were suited to that in the long run.  
“Let’s get them out first.”  
The car pulled into the clearing, the whole cabin by the lake was shielded by wall upon wall or trees, the canopy making it virtually invisible from above. There was also a ring of other defences that Claire had no intention of letting Jamie and Sam know about. She was grateful for their help and the fake money that was now flooding into Wall Street but trust was very thin on the ground.  
“Come on, there’s bedrooms up top for you guys and Claire and I will bunk together.”  
Lily pulled bags of weapons from the boot of the car and passed them to Sam who obediently followed Jamie and his consignment inside. It had taken all day to cross the state and now darkness was falling. Claire carried in food and alcohol, Lily bringing the laptops and cloned phones that would keep them in touch with the outside world and the bastards keeping Frank and his boys locked up. They had missed a few vital targets on the compound and even now the family was running on the streets and keeping its council. Manny and the men would be ready for the signal.  
“We don’t have much time.”  
Claire nodded, grabbing her friend into a tight hug.  
“Time enough. We just got to make sure we do this right.”  
“Are we even sure we can do this?”  
Lily wasn’t worried for herself so much as what this would be doing to her brothers. Neither would cope well with imprisonment. Her sociopath might last longer than her psychopath but sooner or later one of them would snap and that might lead to them getting themselves killed. Claire kissed her, eyes tired but voice determined.  
“We can and will. They have to move them sometimes and we will be ready for it.”  
“Amen to that. Then we go after Tom.”  
Claire giggled, adding more pizza to the oven as they got the fires going and the lamps lit. It felt almost homely but she missed Frank more than ever.  
“You’re determined on that one huh?”  
Lily smirked, something dark flashing across her features.  
“I haven’t even started listing all the stuff I’m gonna kill him with.”  
“Now that is Mikey Way talking.”  
Neither could stop the giggles, somehow it had a very Mikey ring to it. Lily leant back, her mind drawn again to what the boys might be going through.  
“Do you think they’re ok?”  
Claire nodded, hoping she sounded convincing.  
“Frank and Gee will be friends with everyone by now and everyone will be scared of Mikey. They will know we will be coming for them, problem is so do the Feds.”  
Lily poured them both a strong drink and smiled as Jamie reappeared.  
“That will be the fun part.”  
Jamie accepted the drink, he liked looking at both women although Lily was now sporting short haircut dyed an interesting red and Claire sported long black bangs that highlighted her now blue eyes.  
“Do you actually have a plan or is this all off the cuff?”  
“Oh there’s a plan. Just depends on us having enough time to set it off successfully.”  
The dining table in the cabin was soon a mess of maps and equipment amongst the cold pizza and glasses. Lily had the laptop tuned into the news, the bugs in the Federal building and Tom’s office and a police scanner. Claire had the mobiles, dealing with the Captains and Hagan, his men now covering all the territories and making sure the lethal Mexican drugs were not getting out too far into the city. Clearly Tom had decided to use Lily’s old friends to clear her new ones from the streets but the girls knew that was one war he would not win. The men fought for Frank and the Ways, their loyalty only to Godfather and none of them would disobey an order from Manny and the girls.  
“The Feds are raiding the east side but nothing we can’t handle. Any news on the markets?”  
Sam gaped, unable to believe what Claire and Lily had done with half a billion in fake notes. The news was screaming of the worst day on the exchange in a decade and now Lily was pumping money into the Chinese markets. He suddenly realised that he and Jamie were now helping to break their own economy.  
“Dow is down eighty five points at close. Take that bitches.”  
Claire giggled and rung another number.  
“Ahhhh Mr Martin, there you are.”  
A slight gibbering sound started from the other end of the phone.  
“Mrs Iero, I can’t do anything but advise you to hand yourself in.”  
“Shut the fuck up. Mikey will be pissed when he gets out and you can’t afford to lose any more teeth.”  
The lawyer sounded as though he had almost wet himself.  
“I have spoken to Mr Iero and both Mr Ways.”  
“And?”  
“They are fine and being well cared for.”  
Claire disconnected, her eyes on the stopwatch on one of the computer screens. Not nearly enough time to trace the call but enough for her to know that the lawyer had been bought and there would be no communication with her husband until the rescue. No chance to tell them to be ready for it either.  
“Well that’s one dead lawyer.”  
Lily shrugged, there would be plenty of dead people by the end of this.  
“So we can’t tell them we’re coming for them?”  
“Nope, we will just have to go for it.”  
She sat down next to her friend as Lily turned up the bug in the Feds office. There were people moving around, a few voices and then one both of them recognised. Lily turned everything else off, Claire leaning forward as both men pulled up chairs and sat down. It was tense and for a moment nothing seemed to happen before they heard Tom again.  
“We move them tomorrow at four. Two vans, one goes north and one south but we send the prisoners east and unmarked. Its likely the remaining members of the family will try a rescue in some form even if its only the men on the streets.”  
Claire was grim, bad move to underestimate the women.  
“Tactical teams on route….”  
Slowly notes were taken, the laptop showing the route as both the Feds and the Family made plans. There would be a battle, the streets downtown were quiet and three men sat in cells apart. All of them calm, all of them prepared. Frank knew that it was over, the power and the dreams of government but he welcomed it and could feel that Mikey and Gerard did too. There was no more time for games, no more time for plans within plans.  
It was now a war to the death.


	29. Chapter 29

Frank stared down at the plate in front of him and wrinkled his nose.  
“Food ain’t got no better.”  
Mikey smirked, his brother passing Frank something that was potentially a bread roll as the three of them took shaded looks around the room. This prison was small but clearly the guard had been upped and all of them knew it was only a matter of time before they were shipped to a supermax. Whether that would be before the indictments or after was Frank’s only curiosity.  
“They can’t afford any better. Markets seem to be diving….”  
Gerard grinned, he knew that Frank and Mikey were equally aware as to why the four days since their capture had seen a sudden meltdown which even the prisoners had heard about from the news. Their girls had gone into scorched earth mode and it excited him. The three had formed a code between them knowing that they were being watched night and day, the revelation that they had been double crossed had not been a surprise. The fact that there was now evidence of wrongdoing was the part that concerned Frank.  
“Too much corruption around nowadays. You know that Gee.”  
“Indeed I do Frank.”  
The guard passing snarled at them, all too aware that he was being laughed at along with everyone else. So far the Feds believed they were winning although they had not captured the women or had anything that would make the three men talk. That was the part which annoyed them and Tom’s bosses, the recordings and the whole set up should have them beaten and yet still Frank had his normal calm and his henchmen didn’t seem bothered at all.  
“Any news from the lawyers?”  
Frank knew that he basically didn’t have one but there were still people out there who were brave enough to step up in the hope that the Iero family would dodge the axe again. Gerard leant back, trying again to ignore how good his brother looked in the simple prison uniform.  
“Nobody is gonna help us apart from the cheap and ambitious. Got the call out anyway.”  
Mikey rolled his eyes, bored by the whole talk of lawyers when he knew his girls would be certain to try something entirely less legal and he couldn’t wait, was almost turned on by the war to come. He sent another bored look across the room, most averting their eyes and praying he didn’t see them. There wasn’t a prisoner in the place that hadn’t heard of Mikey Way and some of them had been glad to go to jail rather than face him in the first place. His eyes settled on the television and then widened.  
“Hey guys….”  
Frank turned and pulled Gee around while trying to process what he was seeing. The television showed that the news show had been interrupted, the host saying only that the message had been delivered to every major newstation with a demand that it was broadcast. Each station was doing so as it related to the case of the century and now all would see. The prison cafeteria fell silent as the screen went white bar from a black shadow at the centre. Frank began to smile as he recognised the voice coming through.  
“My name is Claire Iero. I talk to you today from a secret location as I am under suspicion of some manufactured crime that has seen my husband and closet friends jailed and denied due process.”  
Gerard tried to hide his smile, sure that his girl was somewhere there too.  
“I will hand myself in along with my friend Lily as soon as we receive some assurances that any trial will be fair as it seems that this country now arrests and jails men for nothing by hearsay and lies. Tapes can be tampered with and colluding with foreign powers to entrap someone is surely a crime in this country which should bring the integrity of the FBI and the President into question.”  
There seemed to be a pause, the dead silence around Frank making it easier for him to listen in for hidden messages. Obviously the girls hadn’t been able to get them a lawyer but this form of communication was almost better and the chaotic part of him loved that even now Claire was attempting to salvage their reputations.  
“Its not secret that my husband was funding Gerard Way to re-enter politics same as it was no secret that we donated heavily to the late President Toro who as we all should remember was the most popular President in modern times. Had his untimely death not ended his second term we would not have corruption in the White House now. My husband and his associates are victims of this corruption and we will use all means to obtain their release.”  
Mikey and Gee locked eyes.  
“Every route is being checked out and every avenue researched and I guarantee justice will be served. I appeal to the people of this country for justice and that they demand their government and that of the other sovereign state involved cease this treasonous exercise against innocent people. We are watching, the world is watching and justice will be served.”  
A loud cheer went up as the television blanked out and back to the interviewer in the studio. Frank giggled as the other prisoners clapped him on the back and the guards moved in. It was clear to him now that Claire was working towards getting him out and that they were also keeping tabs on both sides of the enemy. He had expected nothing less but he couldn’t help the swell of pride that filled his chest. Mikey was his normal poker faced self but his hazel eyes were sparkling and Gee just gave the guards his best politicians smile.  
“Back to your cells. You bitches are leaving us soon.”  
All three stood, there had been no signs of temper from any of them much to the guards disappointment. A lot of them wanted to try Mikey and see if the rumours were true, Frank an equal target which also protected Gee. They all thought the pretty man would soon be beaten back into place without his boss and his brother around.   
There was now a plan in place and it was simple. As the three men were headed back towards the exit the guards made sure that Frank and Mikey were kept on opposite sides of the prison. To that end they went their separate ways and Gerard followed Frank, his cell nearby.   
“Way! Governor wants you.”  
Frank winked at Gee, they had been expecting this.  
“Later bro.”  
“Always Frankie.”  
Gerard turned back to the guards and they ushered him towards the corridor that led to the offices. He didn’t resist, the stresses of the past few days had been building and now he let the throb in his head talk to him. They stopped at an empty office and pushed him in, the grim smiles not phasing Gee as they left. He waited patiently, smiling to himself as three men entered the room.  
“Well now, look what the cat dragged in.”  
Phelan was a huge man and the prison’s resident bull queer. He took what he wanted when he wanted, even some of the guards and now he was getting just what he wanted. Gerard Way was too pretty, all dark haired and expressive with a thin frailness that his sexy little brother just didn’t have. Phelan and his boys were just the slightest bit scared of Mikey and his mob boss friend but the guards had reassured them that nobody would interfere.  
“This is original. I would say I wasn’t interested but I can’t deny I like cock.”  
Gerard smirked, the fat man in front of him was nothing and would always be nothing. He didn’t flinch as hard fingers ran down his cheek. The other two men closed the door and put a chair under the handle, all of them wanted a turn with the bitch.  
“So we won’t have to hurt you.”  
“Well I’d prefer it if you did but if gentle’s how you like it…”  
Gerard waited until the man tried to touch him before landing a vicious headbutt. Phelan went down and his henchmen came at Gee, never seeing the homemade shank in his hand. Mikey had taught his brother well and the implement was a sharpened piece of plastic that he now buried into the nearest thug’s neck with a yell. The man tried to scream, blood jetting out as Gee landed a hard punch to the second thug which sent him to the floor. Phelan was still on the floor holding his shattered nose and watching in horror as one friend bled out and the other had his head pummelled into the concrete by the giggling demon with the angel’s face.  
Phelan only really started screaming when Gee looked his way and by the time the guards appeared, by the time they realised what they were looking at…well Phelan had nothing left to scream with.  
Gerard sat on the bloody floor, at peace with himself despite the guards yelling and the commotion that had broken out. It felt right and so much better than the public face, his words to the warden somehow all the more chilling.  
“Guess being President is less likely now huh?”


	30. Chapter 30

The two men in the prison van were tense.  
They say opposite each other, heavily shackled with knees almost touching, every so often either one would glance around as the van rumbled on. There were two guards in there with them, two more up front and who knew how many more in the cars that led and followed the van downtown.  
Frank was pissed.  
Mikey was amused.  
Gerard was being taken to a mental hospital across state.  
Frank knew sometimes his boy just couldn’t control the rage, the bloodlust from that bullet had done so much damage that he didn’t think any amount of medication would help. He had tried, doctors had tried but it was still Mikey that was the only one who could calm the animal and keep it caged. The boss had expected someone to go after Gee and had hoped that he had prepped the boy enough to control it. Sadly not it seemed given that three corpses had now played into the enemies hands and separated them along with any hopes of salvaging a Presidency that the girls might have harboured.  
Mikey had known It would happen, it had been inevitable from the moment they had been locked up and had made the boss smile when commenting that at least it wasn’t a guard. A few prisoners was nothing, an irritation, although Gee being sent away from him was not something Mikey would be prepared to tolerate for too long. Both men always felt protective of him, much to Gerard’s amusement when he was more than capable of looking after himself. He had reminded them again that night of the beach house when he was forced to put an end to their posturing once before.  
Now they had to force that thought away and be ready. The guards around them looked more nervous and had actually been forced into this duty. Orders were orders but it had taken double wages and a few threats before anyone volunteered and indeed the men inside were rookies, unable to really refuse.  
The man sitting next to Frank was particularly worried. He had happened to see some of the photos of various crime scenes said to be the handiwork of the two men. He had even seen the pictures of what their friend had done to three other prisoners and thanked his lucky stars that he only had these two to worry about. His friend was more cocky, trying to stare down Iero until the man had fully turned his attention to him. Not many could stare down Frank Iero and this green kid suddenly thought much better of it.  
“Where are they taking my brother?”  
For a moment the guard next to Frank gaped, not expecting the soft voice from someone with such a brutal reputation. Mikey cocked his head, waiting on the reply as he worked the handcuffs pinning his wrists loose. This wasn’t his first time and Mikey didn’t like being thought of as an amateur.  
“Uhh…I… Don’t know. They didn’t say.”  
“Gerard is not sick. He got shot.”  
The guard paled a little, there was something terrifying about the blank stare although he could feel Frank smirking next to him. The grip on his rifle tightened a little and he straightened up, trying to look a little more intimidating and failing miserably.  
“He killed people.”  
Now Mikey smiled slowly.  
“He’s always sorry after.”  
“Mikes, quit baiting the kids here.”  
Now both guards pouted at Frank’s comment which made his grin even wider. He was on edge, a coiled spring of energy waiting to explode. It was almost agonising, not knowing when it would kick off although he was confident that the girls would wait till the city limits before trying anything.  
“Not baiting boss, just a concerned sibling….”  
Mikey could see sweat trickling from the man’s brow and didn’t break the stare.  
“I’m sure Mr Way will be treated humanly.”  
Mikey leant forward, the ice now appearing in his voice.  
“They’d better or I will gut them and their families.”  
The guard next to him reacted, pulling Mikey back just as a tremendous force hit the van. There was no time to scream, the world turning and spinning as they all tried to brace themselves as much as was possible. Frank went with it, wedging himself in one corner until the bone crunching slam into the pavement. He shook his head, realising that Mikey was already free and had broken the neck of the guard in front of him before the man had even realised that the world had stopped spinning.  
“Frank!”  
He turned at his name, catching the keys and trying to think around the blood down his face from an open wound. Mikey had taken a bad knock to his shoulder, his left arm not really responding and he was glad he had worked his cuffs off before whatever had happened. He slammed his fist into the other guards face as automatic gunfire started up outside and they heard bullets hitting the metal.  
“Careful opening that fucking door.”  
“Got it.”  
Frank shoulder barged the door, using it almost as a shield and quickly taking in the scene. He recognised the road heading north out of town and almost giggled at the fact that their rescuers had used a cement truck to take the armoured van off the road. All around them black vehicles and police cars were doing battle and he had to duck back as gunfire hit the top of the door.  
“Move Mikey, we’re sitting ducks.”  
Mikey tossed him one of the dead guards automatics, the other in his own hand as they fired a few rounds at the nearest police car and then scrambled across the tarmac. Instantly covering fire was making every cop duck and Frank realised that it was Manny and the boys.  
“Over there.”  
“Damn, this is a massacre…”  
Mikey grinned at Frank’s giddy laugh and allowed himself to be pulled back behind one of the black vehicles. It was a losing battle for their men and they needed to leave as soon as they could before the Feds and police caught up. Manny pulled off his balaclava and grinned, grabbing his Don by the shoulder.  
“Good to see you boss.”  
Frank embraced him, all of them ducking again.”  
“I knew it would be you Manny, listen there’s two million for you in this account and another four to be spread among the boys. Disappear ok?”  
Manny nodded, taking the scrap of paper and then pointing towards an alley that snaked between the now burning vehicles. There were sirens in the distance and now their men were getting into vans and getting out.  
“Go boss, the ladies are waiting. Good luck Mikey.”  
Mikey hugged him, his voice now urgent.  
“And to you. Get out the country for a while.”  
Manny nodded and turned as Frank and Mikey headed for the alley. It had gone quieter while the sirens were getting louder. Frank couldn’t hold back his delighted smile at Claire and Lily, both in black and under hats and shades anxiously waiting in the cab of a mechanics van. Both men hurled themselves into the back ,the van reversing back down the alley and into an adjoining street before they even got the door shut. Lily concentrated on driving as Claire opened the little window, her voice concerned.  
“Where’s Gee?”  
“He lost it. They’re sending him to a mental hospital but we don’t know where.”  
Lily swallowed hard.  
“Nothing on the bugs about it. What do we do?”  
Frank and Mikey started to change as the van headed out of the city. When he spoke again Frank’s voice was terrifying in its coldness.  
“We find him and kill everyone in our way.”


	31. Chapter 31

Gerard sat calmly, his attention on the doctor in front of him.  
He knew that he was getting to the guy, supposedly one of the government’s best shrinks but so far not getting anything from Gerard. There had been many doctors after the bullet, many more when Frank had found out that Mikey had been hiding the secret of Gerard’s new inclinations. He wondered for a minute what the doctor now staring at him would make of those reports, not that Frank would ever let any of them become public. The white room was too sterile and so far every room in the hospital that Gerard had been in was the same. It irked him and he missed his family, his woman and the power to just enjoy himself.  
“You killed three men in under five minutes, tell me why.”  
“Self defence.”  
Gee flashed the man a smile which was not returned.  
“Not many people can do that Gerard.”  
He sat back, Dr Reynolds taking a minute to look at the young man in front of him. Gee was calm, the hazel eyes contrasting sharply with the white blond hair and the simple prison uniform. Reynolds had seen many people in his years working his way up to pre-eminence in his field and yet there was something unreadable in this man that bothered him. That only a few days before he had been a prominent politician was part of it, the violence he had demonstrated another part but it was more the ease that concerned him. He glanced down again at the folder showing medical scans of the brain injury Gerard had suffered.  
“When you have been shot once you take your personal safety more seriously and I was lucky that my brother could teach me self-defence.”  
Reynolds smiled, Gerard felt the urge to throttle him and swallowed it.  
“Yes, your brother. Mikey Way and Frank Iero escaped more than a week ago and yet you seem unconcerned. The police found it quite remarkable.”  
There was no flicker of interest from his patient, merely a raised eyebrow. He had taken the same attitude through two days of grilling from police officers who seemed to have learned all their tricks from watching television. Gerard had been more amused than impressed and had given them nothing, enjoying knowing that his lover and his brother had pulled one over on the authorities. He was far more concerned with what Tom might persuade his government to try and pin on him which would in turn lead to secrets coming out that could get Gerard and everyone around him killed.  
“He’s always been impulsive and Frank doesn’t like to be caged for things he hasn’t done. This whole business is a set up and quite frankly, so is this.”  
“You think this is a set up?”  
Gerard leant back, eyes fixed on the ceiling.  
“I am not insane, mentally ill or anything else you are thinking of pinning on me.”  
The psychiatrist looked at his notes again.  
“We have no interest in pinning anything on you. We are merely here to assess your fitness to stand trial.”  
“Trial for what? Self-defence? Try harder.”  
Gerard fixed the man with a stare and waited patiently. He was not at all surprised that the escape plan had happened after he had been separated from his friends. The enemy was a decent tactician and now they had Gerard to tempt the others in. He knew Mikey and Frank would find a way to get to him, just depended on how and what Gerard would have to do to keep ahead of the game until then.  
“You really believe these charges are a set up? Does that not hint of a little paranoia Gerard?”  
“Its not paranoia if people are really out to get you.”  
Reynolds nodded slowly, he had done some reading from what the FBI had sent him and actually remained in two minds. There had been nothing substantial there to tie the man in front of him to anything illegal bar from what the British government were insinuating and even that could be dismissed as collusion. He had no doubt that Iero and his family were criminals in the traditional sense but he had seen Gerard speak back before all this had come to light and couldn’t reconcile that with the killer in front of him thus far.  
“Your brother has a significant history from childhood. Diagnosed with an antisocial personality disorder at fifteen, significant drug therapies tried…”  
“We’re not here to talk about Mikey.”  
For the first time there was a hint of steel in Gerard’s voice. Reynolds remained impassive.  
“You’re right but being shot could spark some dormant genetic traits. Do you think the gunshot has changed you? You seem convinced that there are threats now that were not there before.”  
“The threat is more obvious when you have been on the end of it and I had to leave politics for a long time because of it. Of course it changed me, I don’t sit back and take whatever life throws at me now.”  
The doctor made a note on the pad.  
“You’re more violent now?”  
“Not at all, merely more confident.”  
Gerard was getting bored and his head ached, the doctor was better than some he had come across but compared to bullshitting congress, politicians, international arms dealers and his own family he was absolutely nothing.  
“We want to help you with these charges but you have to be honest with us.”  
The doctor noticed the pain behind his patient’s eyes.  
“We could also help with medication, your doctor said courses of drugs that would help your pain had been stopped.”  
“I don’t like taking drugs, did that enough when I was young and stupid.”  
The doctor smiled despite himself, the wry tone was understandable. He clasped his hands and looked at Gee, seeing again that this one would be hard to crack. In the back of his head Reynolds wanted to see what was behind the discomfort he felt with Gerard and whether he was dealing with a textbook sociopath or a wronged individual. So far it was impossible to know.  
“There are some men from the FBI coming in tomorrow to interview you.”  
Gerard looked up.  
“I don’t talk to the Feds without my lawyer.”  
“You have been sectioned, unfortunately I can be present but no lawyers.”  
A flash of anger crossed Gerard’s face before he could stop it and he fought down the screaming pain in his head that demanded he reach across and break the shrink’s neck. Patience was difficult when he knew that the Feds wold try every dirty trick in the book to incriminate him. Reynolds watched him, seeing the first hint of what had probably happened at the prison.  
“You tell them I’m fucking sick then seeing as you’re holding me here. I don’t talk to the fucking Feds.”  
The shrink involuntarily shivered as Gee thought of Frank telling him to breathe and fought to regain control. Reynolds made another note on the pad and motioned to a tall blond young man outside the room. The orderly was new and recently transferred so Reynolds remembered to give him a reassuring smile as the boy took in the silent rage from the patient.  
“Ahh Jamie, would you escort Gerard back to his room. I think we have all had enough for today.”  
Gerard stood, the professional ease back in his face as he let the young man steer him out of the interview room. It had been a mistake to get angry and Gee could almost hear Mikey’s deadpan voice in his head telling him to chill out. He tried hard, the walk along the corridor depressing him further as they went past row after row of grilled windows. There were people all around that looked like drugged corpses walking and Gee was glad to get away and into the quieter solitary confinement block where they had been keeping hin.  
His room was at the far end of the corridor and he waited patiently as the orderly unlocked the door. Gerard nodded to him, the kid was cute and just his type with a shy smile that turned a little cheeky as Gee passed him to go into the room. The boy leant in, his eyes still on the corridor. When he spoke, his voice was little more than a whisper but the words made Gerard smile.  
“Lily says hold on and be ready. Gonna take a few days but Frank has a plan.”


	32. Chapter 32

“Well if this is life on the run I like it.”  
Frank smiled, opening one eye to look down at where Claire was resting against his chest. The cabin was warm, a gentle breeze blowing in from an open top window occasionally brought in a few flakes of snow. It was quiet and peaceful, the huge fur throws on the bed meaning that being naked underneath it was as pleasurable as the night’s lovemaking.  
“It is kinda great although it won’t be perfect until Gee is home.”  
Claire nodded, running her fingers gently over the inked patterns on his bicep.  
“I hope he’s keeping it together.”  
“Me too and Mikey needs him even more than we do.”  
There had been an argument the night before when the younger Way’s legendary temper had almost got the better of him. Jamie and Sam had wisely kept out of sight as Mikey had demanded to go get his brother. Frank and Lily had calmed him, pointing out that a full frontal assault on the hospital would do nothing other than giving Gee a room-mate or his own corpse on the evening news. Claire had watched carefully noting that he would back down to Lily now, something which previously had only happened with James. She smirked, burying her face in Frank’s neck to whisper in his ear.  
“Interesting that Mikey likes being called daddy though….”  
Frank immediately tickled her, both of them laughing at the overheard conversation the night before. Clearly Lily had some very interesting ideas about just how to keep Mikey in line and now her friend decided to needle her husband over it.  
“You think I should start calling you daddy?”  
“Call me what you want as long as you suck my dick after.”  
Frank smirked as her hand sank down to stroke him.  
“What this?”  
Claire watched his smile go a little dreamy as he stiffened in her hand.  
“Yeah that.   
“Well okay daddy…”  
His giggle was cut off by a gasp as her head sank lower, littering kisses over his neck, chest and stomach. Frank tried to concentrate on breathing, his eyes drifting to the ceiling as soft lips and tongue chased patterns over his hip and finally his cock. It never stopped amazing him how good she could make this feel and Claire knew he was lost in the moment, one hand knotted in her hair as she concentrated on taking him deep into her throat.  
Frank couldn’t stop the groan that escaped him, his hips almost rising off the bed as pleasure flooded his senses. He pulled her up, the fire in his eyes making her smile before his lips crashed against hers and he twisted them both so she was under him. Claire wrapped her arms around his neck, spreading her legs for him as Frank licked and bit at her neck. There was no need for further foreplay, she was dripping wet for him and he knew it as he plunged himself deep inside her. He loved that she cried out in a lustful enjoyment before her mouth found his and they were kissing again like their lives depended on it.  
He wanted to take his time but the addiction Frank always felt for his wife made that difficult. He could never get enough of kissing her full breasts, the way she always tried but just couldn’t hold back the need to please him and almost worship his body. They might have done this a thousand times before but the electricity between them never seemed to dim and now Frank just couldn’t hold back on the desire to force her orgasm from her, his words almost a growl.  
“So cum for daddy.”  
Claire opened her eyes, seeing the fire in his and feeling her body react. It was impossible to refuse him, the reaction almost automatic as she came with a heaving sigh, his matching groan as he joined her at the peak of intensity. He could do nothing but ride it out, her arms tightening around him as they came down together and snuggled back under the huge coverlet.   
Frank felt he could stay like that the rest of his days but thoughts tended to intrude and although he had enjoyed the week of laying low it wasn’t natural to him. Claire could recognise the brooding set of his jaw and kissed him lightly before rising to use the shower and dress. Frank watched her, knowing that again she had risked everything for his safety without a single doubt. He always loved her but now he knew he owed her more than he could repay in one lifetime.  
“Is Jamie going back to the hospital today?”  
Claire nodded, pulling another jersey on as she surveyed the foot of snow outside.  
“I think I heard him leave earlier, Sam is getting us the layout so Mikes can figure an escape route.”  
“Not going to be easy, you know they are watching the five miles around the hospital now.”  
Claire nodded, the thought had occurred to her and she grinned, watching a naked Frank pad to the bathroom before heading down to the kitchen. Lily was sitting in Mikey’s lap, both of them reading the paper outlining the latest in the manhunt to find them. It was speculating that they had left the country or already been arrested and were being hidden by the government. Mikey was glad they were nowhere close and smiled at Claire.  
“Where’s loverboy?”  
“Shower. Have the kids gone to the hospital?”  
Lily nodded and passed Claire a mug of tea. She was still trying to keep Mikey calm, a fresh set of bruises attesting to her diversion tactic but even that wasn’t going to work forever. There was another card she could play but it was a dangerous one and really Lily didn’t want to even suggest it until there was no other option.  
“Yeah, gonna let us know when the arraignment is. Maybe we can pull the same stunt again.”  
Mikey grunted, his third coffee the strongest yet.  
“When they get back we need to do something. Gerard won’t hold his temper under that much pressure and that’s before any tricks the government and our foreign friend may pull.”  
Frank appeared in the doorway, his eyes fixed on the coffee.  
“We could go on the offensive.”  
All eyes turned his way as a slow smile spread across Mikey’s face. Frank leant against the doorframe, his mind alive with the possibility of a little revenge. He had studied the news long and hard, Hagan was feeding him in the word from the street which spoke of the Mexicans reaching out into their territories and Tom seemed to have gone into a smug open mode that meant there were more Feds and more police in general. That was where Frank intended to strike.  
“We need something to bargain with or at least to show we are still fighting. So we’re going to grab our British friend…”  
Claire winced, not really wanting to think about the risk involved. Lily was a little more open as the look on Mikey’s face suggested he was all over the idea. She knew how dangerous Tom could be and considered that it would be double that if they backed him into a corner.  
“We do that and they will retaliate which could mean Gee is put somewhere we can’t get to him.”  
“It’s a sideshow really, make them look our way so that your young friends and our Irish buddy can make a break for Gee.”  
Frank sat down, he knew Mikey would be onside but he needed the girls and particularly Lily as bait. She knew that too, seeing the look on his face made a shiver go up her back as Mikey kissed her neck, his voice amused.  
“I like it. Can I kill the bastard?”  
“If it comes to it then yeah but we could use him more alive.”  
Frank knew from Mikey’s face that it was unlikely but he genuinely wanted a confrontation with the man and to make him pay for that double cross. Claire intended to keep an eye on both of them seeing the trouble with the plan. If they showed face again then it would be more difficult to slip back into hiding and she hoped then that at least they could rescue Gee and leave the country. Lily could only see death.  
One whole lot of death.


	33. Chapter 33

“You’re a dead man motherfucker.”  
The sanitoriam canteen was in chaos as Gerard launched himself at Jamie again, patients and doctors alike trying to get out of the way. There had been no warning, the normally placid Gee had simply picked up a pitcher from the table and broke it cleanly over the young man’s head. Despite others trying to intervene the two men were still struggling on the floor.  
“Calm down Mr Way, please there is no need for this.”  
Another solid right to the face sent Jamie flying into the table next to the door. He was bleeding freely from a nasty gash to the forehead caused by razor blades carefully taped to Gerard’s fist. They had been discarded after the wound opened up, the plan depended on Jamie keeping his head once the drugs kicked in. The plan Frank had come up with was clever and dangerous, Gerard had taken a synthetic drug to mimic a heart attack which Sam had managed to bring in and while the hospital had an extensive medical wing it was not geared up for this kind of emergency. Therefore there would have to be outside help called in and that meant the rescue was on. Gerard already looked pale and sweaty, his pallor grey and Jamie knew he was slowing up. Hence he landed a haymaker of his own and Gerard stumbled, his eye on the clock as he remembered the warning in the lecture he had been given by Mikey and Frank. They had less than an hour or Gee was a dead man.  
“Break it up!”  
Gerard smirked, his eyes dilated and wild.  
“Gonna gut the bitch, done it before.”  
“We need some sedation here!”  
Jamie winced at the baton striking the back of his friend’s head as two guards pulled him back off Gerard and dragged him to the side. He struggled, still determined to make the whole fight look as real as possible and to be hurt enough to need to leave too. All of them had been in on this plan and he was pretty confident in Frank’s promise that it wouldn’t be a double cross. Their other accomplice Sam pushing Gerard in the opposite direction, one hand on his chest as another doctor struggled to keep the raging patient from rejoining the fray. Around them the other patients shouted and added their own madness to the mix, pushing towards the two men as more orderlies fought to keep them back. It was chaos, just as Jamie and Gerard had wanted. Nobody who hadn’t seen it would realise just how terrifying the pretty man could look when the madness was upon him and it hardly seemed fair that it was aimed at the somewhat slighter and younger blond boy.  
“Get those patients out of here and back to their rooms NOW!”  
The Chief Psychiatrist Dr Pritchard strode towards the scene, he had many years of sedating the assholes nobody else wanted and this one man had was always going to be trouble. He had read all the material the prison had sent him and Reynolds report, not quite believing it until this chaos had broken out in his domain The amount of blood flowing down Jamie’s face bothered him, their resident house doctor could manage a few stitches but a wound like that needed proper attention and the last thing Pritchard wanted was to have to risk this man in a civilian hospital without FBI clearance. The boy worried him, the clear sickness and trembling in Gerard pointed at something a lot more serious.  
“I’m fine, Gerard please calm down….”  
Jamie could see that Gee was just about past hearing anything, the orderlies now concerned as they helped him to sit down. The grip on his arms relaxed and he used the moment to wipe his hair out of his eyes and blink away the blood. They were laying Gerard down as he passed out completely, voices screaming for a doctor as Jamie slumped onto one of the benches and put on his best shell-shocked look. The duty doctor came rushing in, his assistant at his heels and immediately started checking Gerard’s vitals.  
“Call an ambulance. This man has had a heart attack.”  
Instantly the Sam ran out of the room and Jamie let a spark of satisfaction settle in his brain. So far, so good. Now all they had to do was make sure both of them were on that bird to freedom. He groaned, clutching his head so that the doctors assistant came over. Jamie tried to stutter, instantly hushed quiet as hands checked his pulse and a dressing was pressed against the gushing cut on his head.  
“I think Jamie has a concussion, needs stitches at least.”  
“Can’t you treat Way here?”  
The man shook his head, bent over the pale man on the floor.  
“He could well be dying, do you want to explain that to the government?”  
Pritchard was furious but knew that he had little choice and couldn’t go against the doctor’s order. He was happy to let Jamie go, the returning Sam now sitting with his brother as they waited for help to come. The huge hall had rapidly cleared, all the other patients forced back towards their rooms. A few still moved around, the ones that would feed on hysteria were looking to start fights of their own and now they orderlies had to fight to regain control and get the crazies separated from the opportunists.  
Jamie kept his head low, barely looking away from where his friend lay looking like he was already dead. The minutes seemed to pass more like hours and now he was starting to sweat, Gerard needed the antidote, he couldn’t risk having him die right in front of him. When he saw the two paramedics there was genuine relief. He dropped his head lower, trying not to smile as he heard voices that he both recognised and had come to admire.  
“What happened?”  
“A fight. He collapsed and I think this one has a concussion.”  
Lily dropped the bag she carried at Gerard’s feet and let Claire do the talking, intent on bringing her lover back to them. Both of them were heavily disguised with wigs and contacts, neither wanted to be recognised after the event. She ignored the puzzled stares of the orderlies, using a switchblade to cut away the jeans from Gerard’s thigh so she could plunge the needle straight into the muscle. She emptied the antidote, they only had so much time and needed to be on their way but he would live, they had pulled this off in time.  
“We need to get this man to hospital immediately.”  
Claire nodded and squared up to the head shrink, his peevish voice already irritated her.  
“Are you sure? We have a good medical unit here.”  
“He’s in cardiac arrest. This other gentleman is severely concussed. If either of them die you could be looking at a wrongful death claim.”  
Lily lifted Jamie’s chin, both of them careful to show no sign of recognition as she ran finger in front of his face and he pretended to be too dazed to follow it. The uniforms looked good on both of them and he tried very hard to ignore the straining poppers that were holding in Lily’s breasts. Last thing Jamie needed was another beating from the other brother.  
Claire knew she had won as the Doctor huffed and motioned for two huge orderlies to come forward. They assisted her in getting Gerard on the stretcher. His colour was improving but he was still out cold and Jamie was forced to walk behind them supported by Sam. One of the other men snapped a handcuff around Gerard’s wrist and attached it to the stretcher, all of them silent as they wheeled the unconscious man down the ramp to the waiting ambulance.   
Lily got in the back, Claire driving as they took off with sirens wailing. She made out she was arranging equipment, keeping her back to the guards who sat on either side of Gerard. The traffic was quite thick and that made both the girls tense. They wanted to be well on the way back to the rendezvous point before disposing of the orderlies. Mikey was waiting with a car, they would be home and free for the next part of the plan.  
“I thought you only used sirens on the way to the casualty.”  
Lily turned back at the orderlies words, her hand in the green bag on the shelf.  
“Well now, who’s the clever boy…”  
He never saw the gun or heard the dampened shot that ended his life, the other man only managing a shout of dismay before the gun was dispassionately turned on him and a second shot sent more skull fragments and brains over Jamie. He squeaked and turned a strange shade of green, waiting as Lily found the keys and released Gerard. She winked at him, banging on the hatch to talk to Claire as he squeezed past her and bent over the patient, hoping to at least see that Gee would live..  
“Claire, we’re clear.”  
“I’ll call Mikey. You okay Jamie?”  
Jamie stuck his head through the hatch with a cheery grin. His eye was starting to blacken and the head wound had stained the bandage red but he was glad to be alive and now feeling the spikes of adrenaline. He had been quietly anxious despite his bravado and it hit him just what they had managed to pull off. Claire concentrated on spinning the ambulance south and heading for the meeting point.  
“Fucking fantastic, you sure know how to pull a rescue.”  
“We have the Don to plan it out and nobody does it better than Frank. How’s Gee?”  
Jamie turned back, seeing that his friend was groggily sitting up, Lily half supporting him as she quietly filled him in on the rescue. Gee kissed her hard, grateful that again his family had managed to save him in the literal sense All of them had ceased to notice the two crumpled bodies on the floor, just an inconvenience in what they had managed to do. Sam hugged his brother and tried to keep out of the way. It still bothered him a little just what they had gotten themselves into but it was too late now.  
“He’s awake. Now we need to get home.”  
“On it.”  
It would be another forty eight hours before the ambulance and bodies were found, by then everyone would know that the game was afoot. By then Mikey and Frank intended to have Tom just where they wanted him…..


	34. Chapter 34

Lily watched the snow fall from the garret window and waited.  
Gee was asleep behind her, the drug had some nasty side effects that had knocked him off his feet since they had returned and she had spent the rest of the day and most of the night just holding him as the delirium rose and then passed. For the last hour he had been peaceful and now she was waiting for Mikey. They had been swapping texts all day as her man scoped out the enemy with Frank and now both were coming home.   
Personally Lily missed the heat of Mexico but there was something soothing about the grey skies and soft wind that eddied the snow into a series of tiny tornados against the window and the chill goosebumps on her skin made it feel alive and all the more sensitive as all she wore was a sheet from the bed. She saw the car pull up and smiled, both the men were buried in overcoats and hats but nothing could disguise the height difference.  
Mikey still puzzled her, Gerard was open and loving bar the times the madness took over and she was starting to recognise those moments and how to avoid them. His brother was still an enigma, Lily didn’t doubt there was feeling there but it was buried and held back behind his violence. Both of them were exciting, intriguing and probably gonna get her killed but there was no denying the rush and the rescue had made it all the worse.  
“How is he?”  
Warm arms circled around her and Lily relaxed as Mikey kissed her neck.  
“Better now, that was nasty stuff.”  
“You both got out alive, got to say you and Claire have the rescue thing down pretty good.”  
She giggled, turning in his arms to kiss him.  
“Don’t make us make a habit of it. Did you find out anything interesting?”  
He put a finger to her lips as Gerard murmured something and turned over. Mikey liked looking at her in these moments, seeing her love for Gee and something there for himself. He didn’t want her to love him, that got people killed and yet…he swallowed down the feeling and kissed her again, one hand knotting into her hair.  
“Council of War tomorrow, Frank will tell you everything but tonight I just want us.”  
Lily looked up at him, the unreadable hazel eyes held a little more emotion than usual.  
“You always have us, you need to let us in.”  
“Save it for him sweetheart. You know I don’t need it.”  
She smiled, a little sadness creeping into her tone.  
“Everybody needs it Mikey no matter how hard you try to keep that heart of yours cold.”  
He silenced her with a rough kiss, hands already pulling the sheet from her body as she pushed the jacket from his shoulders. Mikey didn’t want to think, the pressure was building as he and Frank watched the net close in on them. It was easy and necessary to keep a buoyant front for the girls and the kids but the three mafia men knew that you couldn’t outrun your own government forever even if the taunting and propaganda from their allies was turning public opinion in their favour. He fought back the image of watching her and his brother die and concentrated on running practised hands down her body.  
Lily didn’t want to push him anymore and surrendered to the feelings his fingers were producing on her skin as Gee reached out, his hand linking in hers and pulling her back towards the bed. Mikey followed, his eyes fixed on his brother as he shed the last of his clothes. The cold air made him shiver and he was grateful for Lily’s body pressed against his as Gerard pulled up all the blankets and the massive fur pelts that kept out the chill. For a moment it was nice to rest together, the girl sandwiched between them and their heads touching, Gerard was feeling more himself, unable to remember much of the rescue once the fight started.  
“Did I hurt Jamie?”  
“You kicked the shit out of him.”  
Mikey smirked at Lily’s retort and winked at Gee.  
“He’ll live. At least you didn’t break any bones.”  
“I’ll apologise tomorrow.”  
Gee lost his train of thought as a hand wrapped itself around his cock. He wasn’t sure who’s hand that was and it didn’t matter. There was nothing better than this, Lily crawling down him as Mikey captured his lips in a long kiss and he could feel nothing but hands and lips on various parts of him. The pleasure came in long hot rushes that seemed to hit his skin in waves and Gerard knew he was moaning louder and louder as Lily finally took him in her mouth. Mikey was content to watch that for a while before deciding he needed some of that for himself, pulling Lily back to him and forcing her head down. For along minutes he enjoyed the feeling, Gerard now back kissing him until Mikey could wait no longer, pulling Lily up by her hair until she could straddle him and give him what he needed.  
Lily moaned, Mikey was so hard and filled her completely, his hands moving her hips as he thrust upwards and she rose with him, her cunt throbbing as he rubbed against her clit time and time again. She was panting and threw her head back as his hands closed around her breasts.  
It was exciting to watch and made Gerard all the harder, his hand working his cock as he watched his brother fuck his woman. He loved how Mikey looked almost in pain from the pleasure, a tight smile on his face as tiny beads of sweat ran down his face. Lily was the only woman who could make his cock harder than Gerard did.  
“You two….”  
Gerard’s voice was hungry and full of want as he picked his moment and slid up behind her. Lily gasped as his thumb slowly pushed into her ass. Mikey smirked and winked at Gee, bracing the girl as fingers were replaced with cock. It hurt and she trembled as they both started to move in a hard rhythm, Gerard gently stroking her ass as they both lost themselves in the pleasure of her body. Lily could feel the heat in her clit growing, she always felt so full when they took her together and she knew it would be hard to hold on until someone lost it and came.  
This part was almost a battle, to see who could hold out against the intensity of body meeting body and for once it seemed like it would be Mikey who would lose. He was moaning so hard, the sight of Gee enjoying her ass and now her cunt milking him was almost too much and he screamed their names as he gave one last hard thrust and came deep inside her pussy. Lily moaned at the feeling and the flooding heat against her clit. She tried but it was no use, the orgasm rocking her and Mikey. Gerard enjoyed the contractions it caused and waited till he had no choice but to join them in the heart stopping moment of climax.  
It took long moments for the three of them to regain breath and settle back into a comfortable position under the blankets. Lily was quickly asleep, exhausted and pleasantly used as Mikey quietly filled Gee in on the plan he and Frank had come up with. They pondered it awhile before Mikey finally dozed against Lily and Gerard was left with his thoughts.  
The time was coming when he knew he would have to make some choices that could part him from those he loved or turn them against him and that was if Frank didn’t find out what he had done. Gerard now regretted those choices but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t use them to his Family’s advantage. A slow smile crossed his face as he imagined the death and chaos to come.


	35. Chapter 35

“Well now, look what the cat dragged in.”  
Tom grinned as two suited agents pushed a smiling Lily towards the chair in his office. He waved a hand at them and they roughly patted her down, checking for both weapons and a wire before coming up empty. Tom watched, on his guard but amused that she had rung him at all. The smug part of his mind wanted to believe that she was going to come running back to him but he had made sure that agents and a couple of the Mexicans were around. Any funny business and the bitch would pay.  
“She’s clean sir.”  
“Is she really….”  
Tom stood up, sauntering around the chair as Lily continued to stare him down. She looked different and he didn’t think he liked it, she also wore a black eye, the bruising looked fresh and he wondered which one of them had done it. She didn’t move as he pulled her against him, hands running up and down her body, over breasts and up thighs. Tom enjoyed the blush on her face but was satisfied that Lily was indeed unarmed and didn’t seem to be wearing a wire either. He motioned to the agents to leave and then pushed her down into the chair opposite the desk.  
“So?”  
Lily settled back, her smile a little wry.  
“So I wanna know what my selling Frank out is worth to you.”  
“Always direct. Not much given that he’s already finished.”  
Tom could see that his answer amused her, a wave of her hand reminded him of the countless times she had bullshitted him in Mexico and beyond. Not that it would do her much good this time.  
“Hardly. Your pals have no leads on where he is or the money or any actual evidence. You may have overstepped your mark this time lover cos I can hear a lot of questions in Congress right now.”  
“Not my problem. Our government got what it wanted in terms of trade and arms deals. How the yanks proceed is…irrelevant. So there’s nothing to stop me killing you right now.”  
Lily nodded slowly, looking the man up and down.  
“True but the more questions are asked the more likely it is that our lot will want a scapegoat when nasty questions are asked. I may have my problems but you’re the perfect patsy.”  
A snarl twisted his face, her smirk enough for both of them to know he had considered that idea himself. In truth his bravado was just that and the longer Iero and his boys remained on the run the longer he was in danger from both his own government and the Americans. Tom stood and strode around the edge of the desk to glower down at her.  
“I should kill you or let the boys next door have you. Jesus, even handing you back to those psychos you’re fucking would be somewhat poetic. You never change Lily, always looking after number one.”  
“I won’t apologise for being a survivor. However, my original question still stands.”  
Tom gave her another hard stare before sitting on the edge of the desk and reaching into his pocket for a smoke. Lily sat patiently, noting he still had the 9mm under his arm and that clearly there were at least four people in the other room. Finally he sighed, the dank office seeming to close in on both of them.  
“You give me all of them. Your pal Claire, her husband and the Ways. I get you a plane ticket out of here and you owe me. You work for me and I swear to god, any more shit like this and I will follow through on my promise to kill you.”  
Lily fingered her eye.  
“Reasonable offer but I want my debt in Mexico paid off.”  
The spy laughed, shaking his head in amused disbelief.  
“You double cross me and now want all this just for doing what I asked in the first place. Why? Just because one of them got a bit rough? As I remember that’s how you like it.”  
She giggled, slipping from the chair and into his embrace.  
“I do like it and it has nothing to do with them. I just know that sooner or later the Feds will catch up with those fine people and I want out before that happens. I just don’t want you thinking you can hand me over to Eduardo and his freak squad.”  
Tom nuzzled into her hair, the feel of her body against his was as good as he remembered. Maybe they could do this and go back to the reasonable professional and private relationship they had before. For two seconds he considered it before a hard smile crossed his face.  
“Eduardo is dead. Fucking Mexicans. Your old friend Jose is in charge now.”  
Lily winced.  
“Even more reason to have my debt wiped.”  
“So how do you plan to hand them to me?”  
She noticed he hadn’t let her go, the tight grip on her arms wasn’t exactly friendly and she kept her eye on the gun in his jacket. Her face was impassive and pale beneath the bruises.  
“I can give you locations on where they are and where the money is. They’re well-hidden but you could find them if you know where to look.”  
Tom rolled his eyes and considered his options.  
“Surrounded by the best weapons money can buy. No deal.”  
“Just the four of them. Everyone else is gone.”  
“Bullshit.”  
“Gerard is crazy, Mikey worse and all of them are cornered. Who is gonna hang around after that.”  
Lily struggled a little harder but still he held her, nodding his head towards the terminal on his desk. She knew there was a direct link to his bosses on there and probably to the Feds too.   
“You and me are going to send that email now with location and bank details. As soon as I get confirmation that they’re all dead I let you go.”  
She giggled, kissing Tom’s smile.  
“Not a chance. Location first and then I go. Once they’re dead you can have the money and I get my passport.”  
He nodded, pulling her around the desk and pointing her at a pad on the desk. Lily quickly wrote down an address and waited as he quickly dispatched the email before both of them could change their minds. Already she was backing away from him, a slight smile on her face as he reached for the gun in his jacket. Tom knew that she half expecting a double cross and couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped him.  
“I’ll honour our deal, don’t look so worried.”  
Lily winked at him, her hand on the door.  
“Trust no-one baby. See you soon.”  
She opened it, a shiver of relief going down her back that instantly faded at the sight of the three large men standing there. She recognised them all and backed up, her desperation showing in the slight tremor in her voice. Tom watched with satisfaction as the Mexicans backed her towards him.  
“Jose, como estas?”  
The man in front of her was young and under normal circumstances she found him attractive but the hard stare was not comforting.  
“Bien, a diferencia de ti…”  
Tom rested the gun on his lap.  
“I never said they would honour the deal. Sorry baby, you lucked out.”  
Lily spat at him, struggling as Jose’s men grabbed both her arms.  
“You fuck. You stupid fuck…”  
Tom just shrugged, looking at his latest Mexican protégé. Thanks to Tom this young man had risen from henchman to kingpin in less than two years and now it was time to pay that debt back. He checked the email back that told him an armed swat team was on the way to the address that Lily had given him. Soon all of them would be dead and he would have made himself a very good reputation back home. It was worth her life and he allowed himself the satisfaction of looking forward to seeing her die, tucking his phone into his pocket and putting the laptop into his briefcase before motioning to Jose.  
“Make it quick, I owe her that. Bye bye Lily.”  
Lily continued to struggle as the men forced her to her knees.  
“Tom….please. Jose, tuvimos Buenos momentos bebe…”  
He enjoyed the desperation in her voice before realising that Jose was looking at him with something approaching a smirk. The gun pointed at her a second before was now pointed at him and the silenced shot made hardly a sound as the bullet hit Tom in the shoulder and knocked him down. Jose leant down and helped Lily to her feet.  
“Many good times mi reina and I kept the family strong for you.”  
Lily giggled, taking the phone from him and sending a simple message as Tom grimaced around the pain and tried to reach his own phone hampered by the pain and surprise. She helped him, avoiding his kicking feet as she pocketed the phone and handed the laptop back to Jose.  
“My family. You never understood family Tom and that’s going to get you killed. Eduardo was your stooge, Jose is my brother in blood and now all the fun in Mexico is mine again.”  
He tried to grab for her, hearing gunshots from the other room as Jose’s men took out the remaining agents. This was now beyond a clusterfuck and Tom was pretty sure he was a dead man as Lily knelt down, just out of reach.  
“Swat team isn’t going to find a thing. You however will get just what you wanted.”  
Two shadows fell over him and Tom knew in that instant it was all over as Mikey Way and Frank Iero stared down at him. Lily enjoyed her revenge, feeling Mikey’s arms around her as Frank smiled.  
“You wanted to meet me and now we talk.”


	36. Chapter 36

The atmosphere in the tiny basement room was tense.  
Two men sat facing each other across the table, this first meeting between them had been a long time coming and neither were what the other had expected. Tom was patched up and in pain from the bullet through his shoulder but had thought the mafia man would be more physically imposing although there was no doubting the intelligence in the handsome face. Frank saw a man who was just as capable as killing as his boys under a more polished façade. It somewhat amused him.  
“You may as well kill me now.”  
Frank raised an eyebrow.  
“I could….but that isn’t going to get me answers.”  
“I ain’t telling you shit.”  
The spy sent a sullen stare in Frank’s direction as the other man lit a cigarette. The smoke drifted lazily into already stuffy air and seemed to emphasise the silence. Tom had no way of knowing where he was, he had been out for most of the trip and securely blindfolded. So few people knew of the cabin and its location that Frank was confident that if he had known he would have taken a bullet rather than what Mikey had in mind.  
“You can play it that way but you may find it to your advantage to talk to me.”  
Tom looked up.  
“Sell out my government for you in other words. I won’t do that.”  
“Not your government, mine. I want to know who set me up, your bosses name and his contact. From your phone I can make a guess but you know, I like to kill the right person first.”  
The spy glared at the cheeky grin Frank sent his way.  
“No.”  
Frank shrugged, he hadn’t expected anything less.  
“Fine. You had your chance and Mikey needs something to do.”  
“You think I am scared of your pet psycho?”  
Fingers tapped on the table as Frank considered a response. The man in front of him would die but not for the reasons he obviously thought. There was an escape plan now that didn’t need redemption from their own country or its people and the irony in it giving him control of the South American drug markets was not lost on Frank. The boys could play, the girls could control business and he could semi retire and generally make life difficult for all his enemies. Didn’t seem a bad deal but a huge problem in that pretty scenario had appeared and now it needed a very delicate solution.  
“You’re not wrong there. Mikey has always been dangerous and in need of the proper channelling.”  
Tom stared at the mobster, a sudden chill up his back as he noticed the ice cold stare wrapped in a calm and almost jovial exterior. He decided to bluff it out, play the trump card.  
“It’s the other one you should be worried about but then you always underestimated Gerard didn’t you?”  
Frank laughed, a sweet and strangely charming sound that caused a puzzled frown to cross the spy’s face. He had expected confusion or anger but not this and now waited to see where this reaction was coming from.   
“You think I don’t know what he did? Gerard knew from the moment you two first met that he would have to come clean eventually and that is what he has done.”  
“So Mikey killed him? Cos I sure as hell would if I knew that my brother had betrayed me like that.”  
Frank took a drag on his cigarette.  
“He will have to pay for what he did but that is our concern not yours. I want to know where Angel is.”  
Tom shook his head, a smile now crossing his face.  
“She’s dead and so is Gates. Terrible car crash that was probably your government or the Russians. She lingered a while hence the confession, I think she thought being useful to me might save her life.”  
“And that’s the confession on your phone?”  
Tom stopped smiling.  
“Yes. I have to admire the sheer rage that your Gerard showed. It was killing the boy I didn’t get. Did they dislike each other?”  
Frank shook his head, a crowd of memories hitting him. He had listened to the dull monologue that had spilled from Gee’s lips and had almost understood it himself. Ray had betrayed them yes but all of them had been paying for past sins and for that he had almost forgiven Gerard for his. It was no worse than what he had done, what Mikey had done and yet…killing James and what had happened to Claire made him wonder if Gerard had done those things intentionally and that was what he needed to find out.  
“No. They were actually fond of each other as it happens. I listened to the confession, do you think Angel was being truthful?”  
“How would I know?”  
“You’re a professional killer even if you don’t do the deed yourself. You must have looked dying people in the face before.”  
Tom nodded slowly, he could remember the anger and desperation in her face and the insistence that Gerard Way was probably the most dangerous man she had ever met which given Angel’s career was quite something. Whether she had been one hundred percent truthful was hard to tell and Gerard’s motive or lack of one when asked about James muddied the water a little more.  
“Angel was truthful enough about the method, my government had it confirmed by yours that it was an ambiguous suicide at best and from what we know of Gates there was no doubt he could have pulled that off.”  
Frank lit another cigarette.  
“Gee said once the hit was on they had no contact. Killing James was her call to get back at Mikey and that makes sense.”  
“Except that Angel was adamant that it was his insistence that it happened.”  
Frank could feel that pull in his heart at the thought of Gerard coldly sentencing a friend and his brother’s great love to die just to ensure power remained with the three of them. He knew that the bullet had done a lot of damage and equally how intelligent and ruthless his lover could be. What had happened to Claire was no doubt Angel’s call, there had been nothing Gerard could have done by that point but this one thing bugged him. Tom could see the emotions crossing his face and grinned.  
“You think he ordered it don’t you Frank?”  
The mobster looked up, emotionless once more.  
“I would have done.”  
“Angel said you were one cold bastard.”  
Frank shrugged.  
“You don’t do what I have done and not become one. What I did to her wasn’t far from any of this.”  
Tom was trying to figure out the angle here. He had expected Frank to kill him or at least ransom him back to his people not go over this one side issue. He was almost tempted to try and go for the man while he was distracted but had seen enough of the bodies left by the Iero Family to not doubt that Frank could handle himself which had only been backed up by Angel’s story. Now he considered other options.  
“You send me back and I can wipe all of this from British government records. Without the evidence we have your government has nothing and the case against you falls apart.”  
Frank smirked.  
“Your track record on honesty is not good. Besides the government are having a hard time right now what the fake money flooding Wall Street and rumours of impeachment everywhere. All I have to do is disappear for a few years and everyone will move on.”  
“You were involved in getting a crooked man into office and then your man had him killed. You really think that will disappear?”  
Frank pulled the Baretta from his jacket and put a bullet through Tom’s forehead, rising to add another before looking down at the twitching corpse.  
“Oh you’d be surprised and that death was in thanks for your cooperation.”  
The corpse didn’t reply, merely staring at the ceiling as Frank went upstairs to prepare for a world shattering conversation.


	37. Chapter 37

Lily hugged her knees and looked out over the frozen lake.  
The past forty eight hours had been a whirlwind of high and now confusing lows. She had managed to persuade Gee and Frank that going into business with Jose would give them both an escape out of the country and a means to strike back, all of them now focused on the plan to come. That was why it had come as a surprise when Frank had been pulled aside by Gee almost as soon as Mikey and Claire had gone to arrange the meet with the Mexicans.   
She hadn’t heard the conversation, just raised voices through the door until sounds of violence had forced her to intervene. Frank had lost it, the black eye the result of trying to come between the two men as Gerard had basically just let Frank hit him.  
Chaos but understandable once she had realised what had happened.  
Gee had been behind it all and even Frank hadn’t known.  
He had murdered Mikey’s lover, the only person she had heard him soften about when his name was mentioned.   
He had killed a President.  
Lily shivered, the chill wind biting into her as a little snow began to fall. Frank had finally calmed, banishing Gerard to the cabin as she had headed out to meet Tom, scared into silence around Mikey by the sheer look on Frank’s face. They had bundled the spy into the basement and almost immediately the Don had sent his wife and hitman to make sure that Hagan and Jose had everything in place to take over supply, the money to go into the swiss bank accounts that were now overflowing with possibility.   
Sam and Jamie had been sent north posing as buyers for where the greedy government were hawking parts of Frank’s arms businesses. Soon they would be bought back with fake money and Iero would again be the most formidable arms dealer in the world. It all lay before them and whatever the Feds and anyone else might think it looked like Frank and his family would come out on top.   
Unless the family tore itself apart. Lily was shivering harder now, part of her wanting to run before Mikey returned and yet she couldn’t imagine leaving either him or his brother whatever Gee had done. It was confusing and terrifying and she flinched when a hand touched her shoulder.  
“Hey, you ok?”  
Claire was puzzled by the pale, haunted look on her friends face.  
“Where are the boys?”  
“Inside. Frank said they needed to talk.”  
Lily stood up, taking Claire’s hand.  
“We need to get in there before they kill each other.”  
Claire blinked, not yet understanding but seeing the fear in Lily’s face. They hurried back inside, heading towards the kitchen where they could hear Mikey questioning Frank. Claire’s eyes widened at the sight of Gee looking battered and refusing to meet Mikey’s eyes. The younger brother had turned on Frank, seeing his bruised knuckles and making the connection.  
“What the fuck? What did you do to him Frankie?”  
Frank was impassive, glancing at Gerard before answering.  
“Tell him Gerard. Tell him what you did.”  
“Gee?”  
Gerard looked up at his brother and then at Frank, something approaching a smile crossing his face as the girls kept well back. The room was full of tension and all Lily could think about was the fact that at least three people in it were probably armed.  
“It was my fault Mikey. All of it. I went after Ray and I got James killed.”  
Mikey stared, his brain not quite comprehending what Gerard had said as Frank carefully pushed Claire behind him. Lily kept back by the door, almost ready to run.  
“You got James killed?”  
Gerard sighed, the pain on Mikey’s face made all the guilt catch up.  
“I found out what Ray had been doing, I knew that he had betrayed us all and intended to run so I tracked Angel down and led her to him. I wanted him to pay for betraying us but it got out of my control.”  
“You led that bitch right back to us? Did you get them into the compound? I thought Ray must have got hold of the security codes but…”  
Frank nodded, he had thought the same thing.  
“You really did let her through to kidnap Claire didn’t you?”  
Gerard didn’t deny it, his gaze still on the floor.  
“She said it would be for show. I didn’t expect that she would kill James and I really thought that Claire would be unharmed.”  
Mikey was shaking, his balance unsteady as he tried to process that it had been Gerard that had sent Angel after them. He didn’t much care about Ray, that was only ever going to end one way if either he or Frank had found out but this was completely different and he couldn’t control the emotion that wracked him, tears in his eyes as he pulled Gee up by the collar and shook him.  
“You knew I loved him, you had that bitch kill him.”  
Frank got between them, his eyes fixed on Mikey.  
“We don’t know that.”  
Claire was too shocked to think, all the memories crowding into her mind of the kidnapping, the last sight of James smiling at her and telling her to turn away, the rape, the fear…she screeched and slapped Gerard around the face, both of the men pulling her away as Gerard stood silent.  
“I watched him die Gee, how could you?”  
Lily winced at the rage in Claire’s voice and stared at Gee as he walked back towards his brother. Mikey was like a coiled spring of energy, the hazel eyes cold as Gee ran his fingers down his face.  
“I did it for the family. You and Frank were always so content to use me, I never wanted to hurt anyone or even go into politics but I did it to get close to you both and got dragged in anyway. Then I get shot thanks to the pair of you and fuck yes, I changed.”  
Frank swallowed hard, his gaze hardening at the madness in Gee’s eyes. There was something different in him now, the ice in his voice only matched by the easy way he looked at them. Gerard was fed up of hiding his intentions and the guilt was only a partial thing when he considered everything that had gone before.   
“I became like you didn’t I? I started to think like you and so I removed the threat when I saw it. I took Ray out and made sure we were safe and I am sorry that there was collateral damage but that’s the fucking world we chose and so did you Claire.”  
Mikey screamed, landing one solid punch that was returned with force, Frank being pulled in as the brothers traded blows. Claire was still, her mind trying to process the carnage that was being unleashed as Lily grabbed Gee by the hair and finally parted them. Mikey remained on the floor, Frank trying to keep him pinned there.  
“Collateral damage? Is that all it was to you?”  
Gerard put his head in his hands, the rage dying down.  
“I regret it. I have spent a long time trying to make it up to you Mikey, trying to make you happy. I’m sorry I lied to you and to you Frankie. I made a bad fucking mistake.”  
Frank gathered Claire into his arms, he couldn’t deny that there was some truth in what Gee had said. They had all forgotten how gentle and basically good he had been before the gunshot and that he had missed all the original trouble with Angel for that reason, college and a normal life had been what Gee could have had when Mikey and Frank had made the choice to go into crime. His voice was tired, eyes still on Mikey.  
“You should have told us.”  
“Yes. I should have. I have my sins now same as you and I can’t make it right no matter what I do. I can’t make up for what happened to Claire or for the fact that James is dead.”  
Gerard looked at Frank and waited, part of him knowing that both of them could still kill him at any point. Mikey had remained on the floor, Lily trying to comfort him as Claire remained buried in Frank’s chest processing what had happened. It seemed as though the room was almost frozen, all of them waiting to see who would make the next move. Finally Lily managed to help Mikey to his feet, the tall man still seemingly in shock as he wiped blood from his lip and looked at Frank.  
“So we just carry on?”  
Frank shook his head.  
“I don’t know. I don’t know that we can now. Maybe we should take equal shares and dissolve the family. There is enough money to let us live out our years and god knows, I’ve had enough of killing.”  
Mikey fixed his gaze on Gerard, he knew that his brother was right and no matter what any of them did now it wouldn’t change what had happened. The pain and rage were still in his head making it seem so hard to think or reason. He looked around at his family, Frank and Claire so pale faced and haunted, Gerard as broken as he was bruised. It wasn’t how things were supposed to be and the face of the boy he still adored flashed into his mind, something breaking as he grabbed Lily by the hair and jammed his gun up under her chin.  
“Well I haven’t. How about it Gee? You killed someone I loved, how about I now do the same to you?”


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finale - Part One

Frank cursed under his breath.  
“Mikey, this isn’t going to help you.”  
The tall man cocked the gun which made Lily’s eyes widen even more as she frantically tried to keep calm. Mikey’s grip was painfully strong and she could feel the cold metal barrel as she kept her eyes on Gerard. Claire tried to inch towards the men, only stopped by Frank’s hand on her arm.  
“Stay out of it Frank.”  
“I can’t do that.”  
Gerard took a step forward, his voice tired and somewhat resigned.  
“If you want to kill someone then kill the person that deserves it.”  
Mikey pointed the gun at Gerard, the barrel shaking a little as Frank tried to work out if he could grab it before something ridiculous and final happened.  
“I should.”  
“Mikey, please, I love you both. Don’t!”  
Mikey shook Lily a little harder, looking at his boss.  
“I lost the person that loved me.”  
“You did, we all lost out and I agree, we can’t let this go but none of this is her fault.”  
Frank grabbed Gee by the collar, fighting down his own anger.  
“I guarantee you that none of us are just going to forgive you Gee.”  
Gee nodded slowly, the deep pain in the pit of his stomach now battling the pain in his head as he prayed that Mikey wouldn’t turn the gun back on Lily. He could live with being exiled if it came to it, better that than Mikey doing something that he would only regret later on. He found he didn’t much care if Mikey pulled the trigger on him, he had known that it would probably only end one way if his family found out.  
“If you want I will go. You don’t ever have to see me again or you can pull that trigger if you think it will help you.”  
Mikey growled, his aim not wavering.  
“You. Murdered. James.”  
Lily tried again to wriggle a little looser only to be stopped by a hand around her throat. Claire rolled her eyes in frustration at the only thing being seen as a solution was violence. She put herself between the brothers despite Frank’s warning and stared Mikey down.  
“Let Lily go Michael.”  
Mikey blinked.  
“Why? You saw what he did, I should….”  
His voice faltered as he realised just how badly the girl was now shaking and the pleading look on Gee’s face. Claire gently shifted his hand pulling her friend away and hugging her close. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her, the history between them went back too far into their shared past and Frank realised that it was probably only Claire that could solve this peacefully.  
“I love you Mikes but hurting Lily only makes this fucking cycle we’re trapped in go on longer. Gerard, you understand right?”  
Gee nodded, the relief on his face mirrored in Lily’s.  
“Yes. I can’t make it right.”  
Mikey sat down heavily, his head in his hands as Frank took the gun and put it on the table. Lily quickly hugged Gerard before going to Mikey and simply holding him as grief rocked him. Mikey was trying to process it and failing, knowing only that he couldn’t have pulled the trigger on Lily and somehow couldn’t on Gerard no matter how badly it was hurting right now.   
Frank tapped his fingers on the table.  
“We need to get out of here. I say we head to Mexico and work the rest out from there.”  
Gerard nodded slowly as Claire started to gather their things together. Lily remained where she was, it seemed more important to comfort Mikey than join in the general packing and moving around as Gerard and Claire gathered the weapons together and Frank relayed instructions to the two sets of mobsters on either side of the border.   
“I love you.”  
Lily looked down, the wry smile on Mikey’s face almost apologising for his words.  
“I love you too. Just, don’t shoot Gee ok?”  
Mikey nodded slowly, somehow feeling better for saying the words.  
“I won’t but I can’t trust him again.”  
“I know that. I can’t tell you how to work this out.”  
He sighed, pulling her into a hug and kissing her hair. If they could get down south then maybe they could start again and he considered all the shit he had done in his own life and the thought that Gee was right, they had all used him and his talents. That he was submissive sexually was one thing but they had all pushed him around and Mikey knew he couldn’t have taken it if the roles were reversed.  
Gerard watched the two of them, wondering now whether Lily would choose his brother over him and yet the smile she sent in his direction gave him hope that he had been right all along about sharing her with Mikey. Lily might be the way to gain back the love and trust he had lost and that small glimmer of hope was carrying him through as the bags and weapons mounted up.   
Frank merely concentrated on pulling it all together, pacing the room as he spoke to first Jose and then Hagen, asking him to contact Manny and get the boys assembled again into a workable unit. He could deal with the consequences of Gerard’s actions once they were all safely out of the country and away from the chaos. There remained the body to dump although part of him wanted to burn the place and move on. That quick decision made he looked over to where Lily and Mikey were sitting, heads resting against one another.   
“Lily, check out back for me, see if we have gas. Mikey, can you give me a hand to bring the cars around.”  
Mikey nodded, kissing Lily gently before standing. Gerard smiled shyly at him in passing and Mikey reached out, the briefest hand on his brother’s shoulder before he started looking for car keys.   
“I think they’re on the kitchen table?”  
Claire smirked, feeling a little more optimistic as Lily searched out her boots and pulled them on. It was still snowing and the light was starting to fade down. Moving at night would be hazardous but the chances of getting a good start towards the border made it a better option.  
“Thanks Claire.”  
The two women hugged, glad that for now the danger had passed.  
“I knew he couldn’t hurt you. Just needed him to know it.”  
Lily giggled, opening the door as snow gently swirled in. Mikey had the keys in his hand, enjoying the sight of her haloed in the half light and already imagining Mexican beaches in his mind.  
As the world exploded in gunfire.


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finale - part 2

Frank reacted on impulse, pulling Claire down below the table as bullets seemed to ricochet from every surface. He cursed himself, they had taken their eyes off the ball and the only saving grace was that all the weapons were in bags around them. He couldn’t risk a glance around too far but could hear Mikey and Gee screaming instructions as Claire stared up at him and pointed.  
“Lily…”  
Frank felt his heart drop. Lily was dead, a smile still on her face as she lay in the doorway that led out to the back drive of the cabin. He couldn’t breathe for a moment, his only relief was that she would have known nothing given the five or six wounds he could see. Blood was spreading along the wooden floor boards and Frank heard returning fire starting up.  
“Stay down, she’s gone.”  
“Fuck. What do we do?”  
Claire could hear hardly anything over the gunfire, peeking around Frank to where she could see both Gerard and Mikey pinned down behind the overturned kitchen table. Both of them were pale and focused, concentrating fire in both directions. For the first time she realised they were surrounded and that some of the shooting was coming from the front.  
“Keep your head down, we will have to shoot our way out.”  
Frank couldn’t look in her eyes as he said that, looking over at Mikey instead. The younger Way was wounded, a leaking stain growing on his shirt from a shot to the shoulder. He was ignoring it and allowing the burning pain to flow.   
“It’s gonna have to be the front.”  
Frank nodded.  
“Head for the study, less windows and we can use the basement exit.”  
Mikey winced as he shook Gerard who was still keeping a steady covering fire. He couldn’t look over at the broken body of another person who had loved him and knew that tears were coursing down Gerard’s cheeks as they tried to stay alive.  
“Go, I’ll keep them off.”  
Gerard and Mikey shared a grim smile, all past troubles between them forgotten. Mikey slung the gun over his wounded shoulder and grabbed another bag of weapons as Frank and Claire shuffled towards the opposite door. It was getting harder and harder to see through the smoke and he realized that his eyes were stinging. With a frantic look over his shoulder he yelled out.  
“Gee, follow us down here, that’s tear gas.”  
Gerard nodded, another salvo from the automatic clicking empty. He made sure that Mikey was crawling after Frank before starting after them. This was clearly no attempt at arrest, there would be no trial or chance at redemption and personally he welcomed it. His girl was dead, all hope Gee had harboured for redemption were gone.  
“Keep going Mikes, Frank can you make it?”  
Frank glanced over his shoulder, eyes starting to stream from the chemical.  
“Yeah, fucking hurry it up.”  
Gerard started across the small gap, never seeing the masked figure in the back doorway until a couple of bullets hit him, the rest bouncing off the furniture and one grazing Mikey’s arm. There was no pain to speak off and Gee was only vaguely aware of all of his friends screaming and hands pulling him across the floor. It was actually okay he thought, not as painful as expected although watching the ceiling flow past was slightly surreal. Frank’s face appeared above him as the ceiling changed to a painful bouncing ride down the cellar steps.  
“Stay with me Gee.”  
“Yeah…ok…it hurts.”  
Frank winced, stuffing a hastily grabbed jumper against the torn wounds in his lover’s stomach. He was going numb, knowing there was nothing he could do and knowing that Gee knew it too. Claire was grimly hanging onto Mikey as rage overcame him. He had taken out the man who had shot his brother, the body-armour nothing compared to the best in high explosive rounds. Mikey wanted nothing more than to keep killing, his mind accepting that this would be how it ended. He was a mobster and had never expected anything less but couldn’t help thinking the girls deserved better. Frank glanced over, his eyes infinitely sad as they met Mikey’s.  
“Mikey….come here now.”  
Gee winced, the pain in his brother’s eyes mirrored.  
“It’s ok, just get out of here.”  
“No.”  
“You have to. I’m a dead man anyway.”  
“No”  
Gee grinned, his voice fading out a little as he weakly patted Mikey’s face.  
“For once in your life, do as you’re fucking told.”  
Mikey roared, pulling Gee away from Frank and cradling him as Gee’s eyes flickered shut and a last quiet breath escaped him. Frank wrapped his arms around both of them, Claire joining them briefly before sounds upstairs forced Frank to pick up a gun again. He rubbed his eyes, Mikey gently laying Gee’s body down before grabbing his own weapon and heading for the stairs.  
“Go, I’ll hold them back.”  
Claire shook her head, seeing what he intended to do and her mind rebelling against it.   
“Mikey, no. We have to go now before…”  
He silenced her with a kiss and smiled at Frank, the two men briefly hugging. There was nothing that would stop him and Frank knew it, allowing himself to concentrate on getting Claire out before joining his friends in death. There was no surrender in him, never had been but his girl was here because of him and there had to be a chance to save her.  
“Till the end Mikey.”  
“Good luck Frank.”  
Mikey gave them one last glance before grabbing more ammo and Gee’s gun and sprinting up the stairs. Frank couldn’t watch, pulling Claire towards the far end of the cellar as a mass of gunfire started up again. She was sobbing now, letting him press a handgun into her grasp as he scrabbled for the lock on the basement tunnel door.   
“Quickly, go.”  
She nodded numbly, crawling through the narrow gap with Frank on her heels. He pulled the door closed behind them, glimpsing masked men cautiously entering the cellar past Gee’s body. With a scowl, he quickly wired a grenade to the door ensuring whoever tried to follow would have a nasty surprise and then pushed Claire on.  
“When we get out just run. Its me they want.”  
“I’m not leaving you Iero.”  
He giggled at her tone.  
“You have to, they are going to make sure this ends how they want.”  
Claire reached the end of the tunnel and gently pushed open the door. It came out in a bank of woods just down from the house and she could vaguely see the building lit up by bright searchlights and surrounded by swat teams. She knew Frank was right and was filled with anger that much surpassed any fear. She turned back to him, kissing his face.  
“Then we go together. I don’t want to go on knowing everyone I love is gone.”  
“Claire, no.”  
“Not arguing.”  
He grabbed her shoulders, they couldn’t stay hidden for long.  
“Neither am I. Survive for me.”  
Claire kissed him more deeply this time, allowing him to push her through the undergrowth and together they raced for the main road. If they could get down the mountainside in the snow then hypothermia was worth it just to avoid the bullets.  
It seemed to stretch forever, shouts behind them and a muffled explosion telling Frank that someone had tried the door and that the enemy knew they had escaped. He couldn’t see anything bar whiteness as the snow started to fall again and couldn’t figure out where an even brighter light came from until he realised it was a helicopter overhead. He tried to shout a warning over the sudden noise of gunfire, screaming as he saw Claire go down in the gunfire and not even feeling the bullets as they hit him.  
It went dark again so fast, his eyes adjusting both to the glare and the crushing pain in his chest as he crawled across to where his wife lay, her face composed in death. With a last burst of energy, he pulled her to him and propped himself up against a tree to wait.  
Gee had been right, didn’t exactly hurt although he felt uncomfortable and yet he felt something like peace. He could see the little cabin in the distance, three bodies now lying red in the snow and he allowed himself some sorrow but in the end Frank had never expected to die in his bed. The helicopter circling above sent another bright bolt of light and Frank shut his eyes against it.  
He was drifting now, the briefest sensation of pain fading as he realised he was walking through the door of his favourite little beach hotel in the Bahamas where he and his family had vacationed such a short time ago. Frank could feel the sun through the window, turning down the corridor and into the bar, a smile breaking out on his face.  
Mikey and Gerard were playing pool, a friendly argument breaking out over the score as the barman carried in some more drinks. Ray was laughing with them, his pint in his hand as he pointed out the obvious flaw in Gee’s safety play much to Mikey’s poker faced amusement. Frank giggled and waved to them, his eyes alighting on the two figures watching them from the table by the bar.   
James was shaking his head at Lily’s joke, their heads resting together as they watched the game and Frank felt a sense of peace wash over him. His friends were together and safe as he had always wanted them to be. He had succeeded and now nothing and nobody could harm them or come between them. James raised his glass to the boss as Lily blew him a kiss and Frank grinned at them both before making his way back down the corridor and out onto the beach front.   
Claire was standing by the water’s edge, a drink in hand and her smile just for him as Frank made his way to his wife’s side to watch the most glorious sunset he had ever seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed, new works coming soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Last part folks....just how crazy is a certain Mikey Way....


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